Being a Girl is Hard 2016
by Halibugz
Summary: Edelle Elric has taken on the identity of Edward Elric since she was twelve years old. But now she's caught up in a bigger mess than she ever thought she would be. She has to stop the plans of the Homunculi and save the world from their terror. Along with keeping her secret, which it seems like more and more people are learning. (Rewrite)
1. Chapter 1

**You guys have no idea how long I had been wanting to do a remake of my original Being a Girl is Hard, which was written six years ago. Finally, something to get done! If you haven't read the old version, don't even bother. This one is going to definitely stray away from the original. Enjoy and let me know what you think! If you have read the old version, let me know if you think this one is better!**

* * *

 **Chapter One**

It was dark in the pit that Ed had fallen into. He could clearly see ruins in the abyss he stood in, as well as a red liquid all around him. When he walked, there was a slush that followed, echoing in the abyss.

Trying to walk in the mess of water, Ed then fell down to the ground. He sputtered the foul tasting liquid that had found its way into his mouth during the fall, pulling himself to a standing position to discover his chest felt much looser than before.

Ed sighed; his ace bandages must have fallen off. For years, Ed had been living with a terrible secret – he was really a girl. No one knew except his family and friends – which included Alphonse, his father, Winry, and Pinako. The bandages were lost in the water below, leaving Ed's breasts loose.

Ed was born as Edelle Elric, later changing her name to Edward Elric just before she had applied for the State Alchemy exam at twelve years old. It hadn't been easy, but with Pinako signing as her legal guardian, she was able to change it. It wasn't like Mustang thought she was a girl – he saw her bare chested and still thought she was a boy despite the fact that her hair was nearly down to her shoulders. When Edelle had begun to go through puberty and develop breasts, she resorted to strapping her breasts down with an ace bandage. It was awkward at first, but she grew used to it.

"Hello?" Ed called throughout the emptiness. He had perfected his voice throughout the years, always speaking deeper than usual. It seemed almost natural now. "Can anyone hear me? Hello! Anybody! What the hell is this place?!"

"Dammit!" Ed groaned. "IT'S LING'S FAULT! THAT IDIOT PRINCE!"

"Who do you think you are to call me that?!" Ling's voice shouted through. Ed quickly turned to see the Xingese prince standing before him holding a torch. Of _course_ he had a torch with him.

"Ling!" Ed exclaimed, shocked that they had found each other.

"You can't call the future emperor of a nation an idiot," Ling said with a frown as Ed ran over to him. The teen frowned at his breasts bouncing softly as he ran. They weren't very large, but he was used to them being pinned down.

"Are you all right?" Ed asked as he reached the prince. Ed then froze. "Hold on…"

"What's wrong?" Ling asked.

"How do I know you're not Envy in disguise?" Ed asked, pointing at the other.

"Oh come on," Ling groaned. "Do you want me to recite the hotel room service menu from top to bottom?"

Ed couldn't fault him there. "All right; you're Ling."

"And what about you?" Ling asked. "How do I know you're not Envy, you little runt?"

Ed couldn't contain herself, leaping at the prince as she shouted, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A LITTLE RUNT, YOU JERK?!"

"Okay, it's really you," Ling said as he dodged Ed's attacks with only his hand.

"How did we get here?" Ed asked after he had calmed down.

"The last thing I remember…" Ling trailed off, losing himself in thought for a moment. "Gluttony _swallowed_ us whole."

"So you think this cavernous void is the inside of Gluttony's _stomach_?" Ed asked, raising an eyebrow. It was a bit farfetched. Gluttony was big, but he wasn't _that_ big.

"Most likely," Ling said. "Look, there." Ling turned the torch he was holding toward a piece of a house that was beside them.

"How the hell are we going to get out of here?" Ed asked. "I mean, if we're in Gluttony's stomach, there's got to be an exit somewhere…"

"I'd prefer not to think of _that_ kind of exit," a voice behind them spoke. The two quickly turned to see Envy behind them.

"Envy?" Ed asked. "I didn't know you had gotten caught in the crossfire."

"You idiots pulled me in with you when Gluttony decided to take you inside of him!" Envy exclaimed. "Now because of pipsqueak and the Xingese, I'm stuck here forever."

"PIPSQUEAK?!"

"Do you mean there's no exit?" Ling asked.

"Of course I mean that!" Envy answered. "One way in and no way out. At least you morons get to die in here. I'm stuck for good."

"We're not gonna die here!" Ed exclaimed suddenly. "There has to be a way out." She needed to get out and get Alphonse back to normal. It wasn't like she could just abandon him this deep into their journey. "And I'm gonna find it."

"What's a _girl_ like you gonna do about it?" Envy asked with a cheeky grin.

"What?" Ling asked suddenly, snapping his head from Envy to Ed in an instant, who quickly turned away. Had her shirt been that tight on her chest? She was sure she could keep them from noticing if she had hunched over a bit.

"What's the point of hiding it, squirt?" Envy asked. He was still toying with Ed and the fact that she wanted to keep it a secret. "I mean, we're going to _die_ here, remember?"

"We're not gonna die!" Ed exclaimed once more. "I told you we're not gonna die and I meant it."

"What's he talking about, Ed?" Ling asked. "You're not a girl…" So she could keep it a secret from Ling but not Envy?

"Oh don't worry, pipsqueak, you're hiding plenty," Envy said, seemingly reading Ed's thoughts. "It's just that us homunculi have been watching you for a long time. Since you were just a tiny thing. Well…tinier."

Ed could hardly even register the insults to her height. She was preoccupied with what she was going to do about saving their lives and keeping Ling from sprouting his mouth to everyone. And just how the hell did Envy know about her true identity?

"We used to follow you around. Such a great lead to the stone, you see," Envy explained. "You're still one of our sacrifices. On our list until you lose your abilities for alchemy or you croak. I guess that's about now."

"Shut up," Ed spoke quietly.

"All the homunculi know about you," Envy said. "Even the _Furher_."

"Even him…?" Ed asked. "Why would he have let me lie on my application to be a State Alchemist if he already knew?!"

"Ask him," Envy said. "I think it's because he wanted to make sure we wouldn't scare you away. We needed you to pursue the stone."

"Wait, this is true?" Ling asked with wide eyes. Ed didn't know he could open them that wide. "You're a girl?"

"Well…" Ed trailed off. "Technically."

"Little Edelle Elric," Envy crooned.

"I will fucking punch you," Ed threatened.

"Were you going to tell me?" Ling asked in an offended tone.

"Why would I tell you?" Ed asked. "This is my secret to keep. Not even Mustang knows; just Al, my granny, and my mechanic. I wasn't planning on telling _anyone_."

"So you were just going to live your life as a boy?" Ling asked.

"Well…yeah," Ed said. "I was always more tomboyish. I felt awkward being like other girls. I'm more comfortable as Ed."

"What about marriage? A husband? Children?" Ling shot out the questions faster than Ed could process them.

"How is that _any_ of your business?" Ed asked. "Right now, my job is getting Alphonse back to his body. _That's_ what comes first. None of this marriage and kids bullshit. _That's_ not my job."

"But eventually you'll have to be who you really are!" Ling exclaimed.

"No I won't!" Ed shouted back. "Now let me fucking think to get us out of here before we all die!" She snapped to Envy. "And fuck you for telling him."

"Hey, I kept your secret so far," Envy said with a shrug. Oh, how he enjoyed manipulating humans. They had so many emotions that rushed through them and so many opinions. Ed was one he enjoyed playing with the most. The kid was so confused about her life. Just fun to torture.

"Shut up so I can think," Ed said.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"Brother?" Al asked while Ed showered in Central Headquarters. He tried not to look at Ed showering. Just because she took on a male persona didn't mean that she was physically male, and it definitely didn't mean that the stalls in the shower covered her chest.

"You can call me your sister if you want," Ed said. "We're alone right now."

"Well..." Al trailed off. Ed didn't know about the girl inside of his armor, so he would continue calling her his brother for now. "Are you upset about what happened with Ling?"

"He's still alive," Ed said. "We're going to get him back." She would deal with it later. "Oh, and he knows about me."

"What?" Al asked.

"He knows that I'm a girl," Ed repeated. "And the homunculi do too apparently. Along with King Bradley."

"Wait, King Bradley knows?!" Al exclaimed. "How could he have let you into the military under a false persona then?!"

"That's what I asked Envy," Ed said with a sigh. "He said something about Bradley not wanting to scare me away. They needed us to look for the stone. Something about us being needed for sacrifice?"

"Brother, I never thought I'd say this, but I think you need to leave the military," Al said. "It doesn't seem like it's doing us any good. Everyone we know is being put in danger and the military is manipulating it all through King Bradley."

"I've been thinking about it," Ed said as she stepped out of the shower, toweling herself off before wrapping the towel around her waist.

"Can you _please_ put on a shirt?" Al asked.

The door suddenly slammed open with Envy shouting, "Yo! What's the hold u-?!" Envy stopped in his tracks as he stared at Ed and Ed stared at him.

The scream could have been heard halfway across Central city.

* * *

When Envy opened the door to King Bradley's office, Ed immediately spotted Mustang sitting and Bradley's round table.

"Colonel?" Ed asked. "What's going on?

"Where should I begin? Fuery's been shipped south, Falman's been sent up north, Breda's been reassigned at the west, Lieutenant Hawkeye is now a personal assistant to the Fuehrer," Mustang explained.

"Please, sit down, Fullmetal," King Bradley ordered. "We have some personal things to discuss."

Ed and Al shared a look of suspicion before sitting down beside Mustang. They all knew this wasn't going to end well.

"Furher," Ed began. "So what was that in the hospital the day you came to visit me? You really had us going, didn't you?"

"I don't recall lying," Bradley spoke. "I instructed you to suspect everyone and not to meddle further. The only thing you need to know is that you're important to us and there's no need for you to dig any deeper. Accept the importance of your role and keep your heads down. You do that and no harm will come to you."

"Well that's great for us," Ed said cynically. "But what about the others that aren't 'lucky' enough to be considered sacrifices?"

"There's nothing you need to know that I haven't already told you," Bradley said. "Is that clear, Fullmetal Alchemist?"

Ed laughed. "You gave that to me as my title. I only joined the military because I thought it might help us get our bodies back. But now...now I know what the State Alchemist program really is. You're using it as a way to recruit your sacrifices. Well, I'm not gonna let you use me to complete your sick goals." Ed threw her bloodied watch onto the table. "I resign my title as a State Alchemist!"

Bradley looked down at the pocket watch sitting in front of him. "The symbol of a dog, fittingly crusted with blood," Bradley stated.

"Your plans are gonna fail," Ed sad. "I swear on my own grave that I'm gonna stop you. I'll warn the other State Alchemists. I'll tell them-!"

"But if you tell a secret of mine, I must tell a secret of yours," Bradley interrupted. "Isn't that how equivalent exchange works, _Edelle_?"

"What is he talking about?" Mustang asked, snapping his head away from Bradley and to Ed.

"That won't work," Ed said. "It won't. There are others that already know about that."

"Fine, if that won't work, then what was that lovely young girl's name again?" Bradley asked. "Ah, yes, it's Winry Rockbell. Your automail engineer. And you grew up with her in Resembool as well, if I'm not mistaken. She's practically a family member isn't she?" Ed tensed. "I've heard she's made quite the name for herself in Rush Valley. Such a sweet and trusting girl."

Ed jumped from her chair. "You stay away from her! Just leave her out of this!" Winry had nothing to do with any of this and Ed didn't want her involved.

"Well, that's up to you." Bradley tossed the pocket watch back into Ed's hands. "If you'd rather not take it, then I'll simply have to cut her down." Ed glared at the man as she pocketed the watch. "How thoughtful."

"Uh, sir, you don't have to worry about us," Alphonse said. "But I have to ask; if we continue to serve under your watch, can we please continue to keep searching for a way to get our original bodies back? Please, sir."

"I don't see why not," Bradley said. "As long as you don't interfere with our plans. And what do you have in mind, Colonel? You wouldn't do something so petty as to leave the military."

"Good question; I'm on a short leash here," Mustang said in thought. "I still find that preferable to giving up. And I still have my ambitions; your plans don't change that." He held up his own pocket watch. "So I'll hang onto this. And I'll retain my rank too."

"That's fine with me; we have nothing more to discuss," Bradley said as the three stood and exited the room.

Once the three were safely out of the room, Mustang turned to Ed.

"What the hell was he talking about in there?" Mustang asked. "He called you Edelle."

"Oh, I was hoping you wouldn't catch onto that..." Ed trailed off. "You got any change?"

"Why?" Mustang asked, pulling out some change from his pocket, which Ed swiped from him.

"Damn, is that all you got?" Ed asked.

"It's apparently more than you've got!" Mustang exclaimed.

"Thanks!" Ed shouted, running away from the man with Alphonse.

"And he didn't answer me," Mustang said with a sigh.


	3. Chapter 3

**So, when it's out, skip to chapter fifteen if you wanna get past everything that's in the manga. Though, chapter twelve is going to be _pretty_ important for the story. **

* * *

**Chapter Three**

Ed and Al stood in the phone booth, desperately waiting for Winry to answer the call.

 _"Ed? Well, this is a surprise. You didn't break your automail again, did you?"_

"What?! No! I'm calling...because...is everything all right? Have you noticed anything weird? Like any suspicious people following you?" Ed growled. She didn't _always_ need to break her automail to call her friend.

 _"Well, Ed,"_ Winry spoke in an astonished tone.

"What is it?" Ed asked hastily.

 _"You're creeping me out."_

"WHAT'S CREEPY?!"

 _"It's just...well, it's actually pretty rare to get a call from you,"_ Winry said. _"I've_ never _heard you worry about me. This is weirder than a snowstorm during the summer."_

"Well, fine! Maybe I won't worry!"

 _"Thank you, Ed. Really, thank you. It means a lot."_

"Uh...sure...And you're sure everything's okay, right? Yeah, kay, bye." Ed and Alphonse both sighed in relief. "She's still safe for now.

"You know, it's that kind of desperate worry they're gonna manipulate you with," a familiar voice spoke.

"Ling!" Ed exclaimed.

"No, it's Greed, still," the homunculus said, holding his hand up to reveal the Ouroboros symbol on his hand. "Here," he said, handing over a strip of cloth with foreign lettering.

"What's this?" Ed asked.

"That friend of yours told me to give this to you," Greed said. "He said to give it to some girl."

"Lan Fan?" Ed asked. "Is this a trick?"

"I have a rule to never tell a lie," Greed said. "But, hey, it's your call," he said as he walked away.

"Hey, wait, Ling!" Ed called.

"It's still Greed, kid!"

"God dammit..." Ed trailed off.

"Brother?" Al asked.

"We better get this to Lan Fan," Ed said. "If Ling wants her to have this, it has to be important. Just because we can't read it doesn't mean she can't. It's probably in Xingese."

"All right, brother."

 **Short chapter is short.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Ed practically bolted off the train when they reached North City. She ran as fast as she could until she had reached the end of the train platform with Alphonse on her heels.

"Look, there's snow!" Ed called out excitedly. They had never had much snow in Resembool, so it was a novelty for them. She ran down the steps of the train station, though didn't make it to the bottom before she slipped and fell onto the ground, sliding down the steps. Ice was new.

"Brother!" Al called out worriedly. He could see that Ed was fine when she pulled herself up, though rubbed at her lower back with a grunt. "You should be more careful."

"Shut up," Ed said, rolling her eyes. The two found a bench to sit at while Ed recovered from her fall.

"Ed, you are so uncoordinated," Al commented at his sister with a little bit of a laugh.

"Oh, shut up, it was just a little sleep, jeez," Ed said, which only made Al laugh more.

"All this snow is amazing, huh?" Al marveled.

"Yeah, you don't get this much snow back at home, that's for sure," Ed responded. It shocked her slightly that she still referred to Resembool as her home, even though they had been gone for years now. Ed was nearly seventeen already. While they didn't get much snow in Resembool, she could recall one time they had quite a bit. "Hey, Al," Ed said, getting her brother's attention. "Do you remember that one really heavy snow we got back when we were little?"

"Maybe..." Al trailed off in thought. "Oh, yeah, I remember! We had a snowball fight!"

"And we made a snowman!" Ed chirped.

"Yeah!" Al would be grinning ear to ear if he could as he recalled the happy memories of their childhood. They were a lot better than the bad memories. "Back then, I never imagined we would come this far north. It seemed impossible." If not for the transmutation that had made them leave Resembool, Al would have thought they would never leave. Of course, that was when their mother was alive. Ed would have probably gone stir crazy and left whether she died or not, though.

"Yeah," Ed said with a thoughtful smile. "But here we are now."

The two collected themselves and stood from the bench once Ed was fully recovered from her fall.

"So, now what do we do?" Ed asked. "We still have a little bit of time before our train to Briggs takes off."

"Why don't you grab something to eat?" Al suggested. Ed was always getting hungry when it was inconvenient and planning sounding much better to Al than dawdling off until the train took off.

"Eh, I don't know. I'm not really all that hungry," Ed said. "But I guess we could look," she said before bolting into a sprint once more.

"Careful, you're gonna fall again!" Al called after her as he ran behind her.

"SHUT UP!"

* * *

Ed sneezed and shivered on the back of a wagon, pulling her coat closer to her. She never would have expected it to be so cold in the north, even if it was covered with snow.

"Are you catching a cold?" Alphonse asked worriedly. He didn't want Ed to get sick in an unfamiliar setting.

"Oh, I'm cold all right," Ed said as she continued to shiver. "That's Briggs for you."

Suddenly, the wagon stopped in front of a small fence. "All right, this is where I let you go, boys," the man driving the cart said. "If you follow this mountain road, it'll lead you straight to Fort Briggs."

"Okay, thanks," Ed thanked as the two hopped off the cart.

"And you in the armor," the man said.

"Me?" Al asked.

"Yes, you; is that automail?"

"No," Al answered.

"Oh, okay, then you should be all right?" the man said before the driving the cart away.

"What was that all about?" Ed asked. Should she be worried about her automail in this climate?

"Beats me," Al said.

"That's military land beyond the fence, so stay on the road if you want to live!" the man called from behind him.

"Huh?" the two asked simultaneously.

"You ready?" Ed asked.

"Yeah."

The two had barely been walking on the road to headquarters before the wind picked up. It was as if a few minutes had only passed, but a blizzard had formed around them. Ed let out a frustrated scream in the snowy wind.

"I know they say the weather here changes quickly, but this seems a little extreme if you ask me," Ed said as she held her coat tightly to her body in an effort to keep warm.

"What do we do now, brother?" Al asked. "We can't even see the road."

"Relax, we'll be fine," Ed said, trying to reassure her brother. "Teacher said she was tossed out here for a whole month during her training; she survived."

"No way! She couldn't have lived in this for an entire month!" Alphonse exclaimed.

"Sure she could! She even killed a bear," Ed said.

"The bears around here are more than 15 feet tall! There's no way she could have killed one more them!" Alphonse continued to marvel over how strong their teacher was until each Elric could feel a creeping sensation from behind them.

The two screamed before Ed automatically pulled out her arm and transmuted it into a blade. She had thought it had been a bear, though she quickly saw the automail blade that rivaled her own.

"That's no bear!" Ed exclaimed. She moved to fight until Al had been tied around a net by the man with the long braid and giant automail arm.

"Alphonse!" Ed shouted as she saw her brother thrown to the ground. She turned to the man, noticing the familiar blue clothing. "Hey, wait a second! Is that a military uniform you're wearing?!"

"Well, it looks like some pretty mediocre stuff, but you have automail too, don't you?" the man asked.

"Huh? Mediocre just because mine's not tacky like yours?" Ed asked. She could get as offended as Winry when her automail was trashed on.

"Fool! Obviously you don't know a good weapon when you see one!" the man exclaimed. "This right here is combat automail model M1913A, the Crocodile! Now surrender peacefully, you miserable Drachman spy, or I'll show you exactly what this baby can do!"

"Spy?! What are you talking about; I'm not a-" Ed had to doge several hits the soldier attempted with his automail, eventually doing a flip and landing on her feet. "Don't you know what I'm saying, moron?!"

Ed suddenly felt a surge of pain through her right shoulder, grabbing at it. "What the hell?" she asked herself. "It shouldn't be hurting." Her right hand suddenly began to shake uncontrollably. "Something's wrong with my automail."

"Gotcha!" the soldier exclaimed as he grabbed Ed's automail arm with the clamp in his own.

"Brother!" Alphonse shouted.

"You bastard!" Ed called out with reducing strength. "Listen to me for a second!"

"Your resistance is futile!" The soldier suddenly began to rev up his automail and it began to shred at Ed's own.

"No, Wait!" Ed called out, not wanting her automail to be ruined. "WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT STOP!"

"Your pathetic automail is easy to destroy," the man said with a grin.

"No... You've got it wrong!" Ed called. "I'll destroy YOUR ARM!" With the clap of her hands she attempted to transmute the soldier's automail arm. Though...nothing happened.

"Was that supposed to hurt?" he asked as he continued to shred Ed's arm.

"AH STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP!" Ed cried. "What's going on?! Why didn't my alchemy work on it?! This thing's made of iron, isn't it!"

"Brother" Al called, suddenly out of the netting that had entrapped him before. He threw his armored head over to Ed in order to help.

"Thanks, Alphonse!" Ed responded, shoving Al's head between the clamps that held her own arm. She was suddenly let go and fell to the ground with a thud.

"Hm?" The soldier looked down at the head stuck in his automail.

"You okay?" Alphonse asked hastily.

"This is bad," Ed said. "I hope I die here or else Winry's gonna kill me!"

"That wasn't too bad, kid. Especially with that ordinary automail you have," the soldier said. "But it's all over now."

"Huh?" The Elrics looked around and saw soldiers in white camouflage holding guns up to their heads.

"The Briggs mountain guard..." Alphonse trailed off.

"This is getting old," Ed said. "I don't want another gun stuck in my face."

"Brother..." Al said, pointing to the wall in front of them.

"A wall?" Ed asked.

"Buccaneer!" a voice called from the top of it. "Who are they?!"

"I'm sorry; I didn't see you there, General Armstrong!" the soldier, Buccaneer, said while standing at attention. "I apologize for the disturbance."

"Huh?"

"Armstrong?" Alphonse asked.

"That's who Major Armstrong wanted us to meet when we made it here? Major Armstrong's older sister!" Ed pondered.

"But...they look different," Al observed.

"She's not huge," Ed commented.

"I'll ask again!" Armstrong called. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist; my name's Edward Elric. Major Armstrong from Central Command sent us here to meet with the General in charge of this post," Ed explained. "Now can you call of your guard dogs?"

"Search them," Armstrong ordered.

"But I'm with the military!" Ed protested.

"Sure; but how do I verify that?" Armstrong asked. "Anyone can _claim_ to be somebody famous."

"He's hollow!" one of the soldiers searching them exclaimed when they began to search Alphonse.

"Ah, you noticed," Ed said with the roll of her eyes. She was getting tired of stuff like this.

"What's this?" a soldier searching through Ed's suitcase asked.

 _Oh god, don't let it be a bra,_ Ed thought to herself.

"General!" The soldier climbed the wall and delivered a letter to the General.

 _Thank God, just Armstrong's letter of introduction_.

"That's a letter of introduction from Major Alex Louise Armstrong," Ed said. "Just read that; you'll know you can trust us."

"It's from Alex all right," Armstrong said after inspecting the envelope. She quickly began to tore it apart.

"Aren't you even gonna read it?!" Ed asked.

"A letter of introduction means nothing to me," Armstrong said. "I prefer to judge people I meet with my own eyes." The letter flew into the wind, forever unread. It gave Ed a chance to look over the large wall.

"That's amazing. It's huge! What is this place?!" Ed marveled.

"Enter, Fullmetal Alchemist!" Armstrong ordered.

"This is incredible!" Ed exclaimed. "That was is really really really tall!"

"Quit gaping like an idiot before I tear your little body apart limb by limb!" Armstrong shouted. "Be warned; I won't coddle you because you're children. This is the mountain fortress; Briggs! Here, only the strong survive!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Ed was trying desperately to hide the fact that she was a girl as an engineer put hot cloths on her ports. She was sitting in just a tank top and boxers and it was difficult to keep her identity a secret from someone who obviously knew plenty about human anatomy.

Luckily, Ed's breasts weren't very large, so she didn't have to worry too much. But she didn't know if she was fooling the woman in the lab coat. She was babbling away about something that Ed wasn't particularly listening to, but she caught the word 'exposure'.

"Exposure?" Ed asked.

"Yes, that's right," the doctor said. "You got lucky; you were close to getting frostbite. You need to be careful walking around in a snowstorm. The flesh that's touching your automail will freeze and you need to oil it or it'll stiffen."

"So does that Buccaneer guy have a different kind of automail or something?" Ed asked.

Buccaneer then walked into the room. "It's no use, doc, I can't get this thing unstuck," he said, flashing his automail that still had Alphonse's head planted in it.

"Hey! My head!" Al cried.

"Up here your automail has to be flexible and lightweight," the doctor explained. "It also needs to be resistant to the cold. After some trial and error, we found an alloy that works. A combination of duralumin, carbon fiber, nickel copper, and so on."

"Ah, and here I assumed it was just iron," Ed said. "It's no wonder I couldn't do anything with it."

"Hey, doc, be careful," Buccaneer said. "Are you planning on telling him all of our secrets?"

"Why wouldn't I?" the doctor asked. "He's a State Alchemist. He has a right to know, doesn't he?"

"You're kidding me," Buccaneer said shocked.

"He has the pocket watch," the doctor said as Ed held up her watch.

"If you're going to be in the north for long, you should switch to a different kind of automail," the doctor suggested. "Do you have a mechanic?"

"Yeah, but she's in Rush Valley," Ed said.

"And she let you come up north without explaining all of this to you first?" the doctor asked.

"Not exactly," Ed answered. "I didn't tell her I was planning on coming up here."

"I recommend that you send for her," the doctor said. "Assuming you'd like to stay alive."

* * *

Armstrong sat back in her chair as she stared onto the two boys. They didn't leave the room and they weren't alone. Buccaneer and the other doctors were there, along with the soldier that had been accompanying General Armstrong before.

"Tell me why you would bypass the Command Center to meet me," Armstrong ordered. "I want to know it all. Including why your armor is empty and Fullmetal is actually a girl."

"W-What?!" Ed exclaimed suddenly.

"HUH?!" Buccaneer shouted out as well. The others, however, did not react to this.

"Oh, please, you think I can't see through your pathetic rouse?" Armstrong asked. "It's obvious that you're a girl."

"I noticed when I was putting the warm cloth on your automail," the female doctor spoke.

"I kind of figured," the male doctor added.

"A GIRL?!" Buccaneer continued to exclaim.

"I..." Ed gripped at the clothing on her chest, making sure that nothing could be seen. She didn't think so. The doctors made sense, but Armstrong...

"I was born at night but it wasn't last night, Fullmetal," Armstrong said. "Now start from the beginning."

"Actually..." Ed trailed off. "That's something we don't like to talk about."

"There's no reason to worry," the female doctor said. "Folks around here have plenty they want to hide. Everybody up north has something he or she doesn't like to talk about."

"But...if this information reaches certain ears, I could be court marshalled," Ed said.

"Even _I_ have secrets like that," Armstrong said.

"Listen, brother, I really think we have to tell her," Alphonse said close to Ed's ear.

"But Winry's a hostage," Ed said. Winry was still being held as a bargaining chip by the Furher on the condition that Ed keep quiet. She didn't want to jeopardize that. "I don't know, maybe if we can do it without mentioning the Furher and the homunculi."

"What are you whispering about?!" Armstrong shouted.

"Fine, let's just tell her we're trying to get our bodies back," Alphonse said. Ed nodded.

The two went into detail about how they were on a journey to get their bodies back. Even when Armstrong pushed onto why Ed was disguising herself as a male, she explained her reasons of wanting to be in the military and wanting the respect of a man instead of the pity of a female. Ed wasn't sure if Armstrong could relate, but she was such a strong woman. Ed knew a lot of those.

"You may stay here in the fort," Armstrong said. "General Miles," she called to the soldier who had been beside her. "Put them to work."

"Huh?"

"One who does not work does not deserve to eat," Armstrong said.

"You have a point," the Elrics said simultaneously as Armstrong walked out of the room with Buccaneer behind her.

"A lot of people are discovering your secret lately, Ed," Alphonse said. "First Ling and the homunculi and almost Mustang, now the soldiers at Briggs know."

"I think Mustang is still suspicious," Ed said. "I'm gonna have to tell him sooner or later."

"It'll be weird to call you sister again if you ever decide to fully come out," Al commented.

"Maybe after I'm out of the military," Ed responded.

"Maybe."

* * *

 **So I'm jumping around with a lot of these chapters to include as much of the original manga as possible. I'm really just fighting to get _out_ of the manga.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Edward and Alphonse walked along the hallways of the command center in ropes with Buccaneer and Falman as their guides. Suddenly they spotted Major Miles walking along with a man in a white suit with a white hat.

"Buccaneer, what are you doing?" asked Major Miles.

"Prisoner transfer, sir," Buccaneer fibbed. "I'm moving the Elric brothers from the east cells to the west. May I ask who this is?"

"This is Mr. Zolf J Kimblee," Miles answered. "He's General Raven's honored guest."

 _Kimblee_ , Ed thought. _The Crimson Alchemist_.

"Wait, did you say the Elric brothers?" Kimblee asked. "You mean the Fullmetal Alchemist?" He looked to Alphonse. "I see, now I understand your nickname." Everyone pointed to Ed, who appeared extremely agitated. She was so sick of Alphonse getting mistaken as the Fullmetal Alchemist. "Oh, it's this one?"

 _If one more person makes that mistake!_ Ed thought.

"It's nice to meet you," Kimblee said. "I've heard much about the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Hello," Ed spoke in monotone.

* * *

Ed and Al sat in their cell, contemplating what they could do. Ed hated sitting around doing nothing and felt like she _needed_ to do _something_. Suddenly, the door to the hall opened, revealing Kimblee.

"Hi, afternoon, boys," Kimblee greeted. "I was hoping I might have a word with the Fullmetal Alchemist." He saw the grim look on Ed's face. "Oh don't tell me you have some reason to dislike me too. You should be thankful; I brought a visitor with me to see you."

"A visitor?" Ed asked. Winry ran up from behind Kimblee up to the cell. "Winry!"

"Why did you come here?!" Alphonse exclaimed.

"Why? Why do you think?! You have to adjust your automail for the north, don't you? And just what are you doing in that cell?!" Winry shouted.

"We didn't ask you to come here!" Ed yelled.

"What's with you?" Winry asked. "I was worried about you, idiot! Someone from the military contacted me, so I came-"

"The military?" Ed asked, stopping Winry in her tracks. This was it. This was the Furher pulling onto his chip in the game.

"Don't be so hard on her, you two," Kimblee said. "The Furher was concerned about you. He wanted to make sure you were taken care of." Kimblee had confirmed Ed's thoughts on this being because of the Furher. He was trying to enforce his power over them and make sure they didn't do anything stupid while they were up north.

* * *

Ed laid on the examination table back where she had first been interrogated by Armstrong. Winry was fixing up her automail, and once again, it was difficult to keep her identity a secret in just a tank top in boxers. Even more so laying down because it meant she couldn't hunch over to hide her breasts. They were small enough, so maybe Kimblee wouldn't notice. Or maybe he already knew.

"You should've told me you were heading to the north," Winry commented as she reached for a tool.

"I didn't have a chance," Ed said. "We were in a hurry, okay?"

"Yeah, and when are you guys ever not in a hurry?" Winry asked. "Anyway, what did you do to get locked up?"

"It's only a misunderstanding," Kimblee chimed in from the corner as he held his coffee. "Just a lack of communication. I'll have them released within no time at all."

 _Yeah, if we do your bidding, asshole_ , Ed thought to herself.

"Thanks a lot, Mr. Kimblee," Winry thanked. "These two are lucky to have you watching out for them."

"It's nothing."

Ed waved her finger to Winry, signaling for her to get closer. The blonde came closer to the alchemist. "Listen, I wouldn't trust Kimblee if I were you," Ed whispered.

"What? Why not? He seems nice," Winry said.

"Just be careful," Ed warned.

Once the upgrade was complete, Ed stood from the table, putting her clothes back on in a quick attempt to keep her identity as hidden as possible, before testing out her new automail.

"It's so light," Ed commented. "It's not gonna be any weaker than my last arm, will it?"

"Not really," Winry answered. "It's slightly weaker, but I doubt you'll notice. It's pretty heavily reinforced."

Buccaneer suddenly walked into the room. "Hm? All right, what are you doing out of your cell?"

"I don't know, maybe some people respect the fact that I'm a State Alchemist," Ed remarked.

"Finally upgrading for the cold, huh?" Buccaneer asked.

"Are you upgrading too?" Ed asked in turn.

"There's nothing left for me to upgrade to!" Buccaneer exclaimed as he showed of his prosthetic limb.

"Ah!" Winry suddenly chirped. "It's the M19..." Ed began to tune her out when she got like this. She had to start listening in because Winry asked, "Edward, you want me to upgrade you to one of these?"

"Not my style," Ed responded. Buccaneer quickly left the room, and Ed couldn't help but notice a red tint to his cheeks as he left.

"Real life northern automail!" Winry gushed. "That's the first I've seen!"

"Oh yeah? You wanna come check out my work shed, then?" Neil - the male doctor - asked.

"Please, please, I'd love to!" Winry said excitedly.

"Hey!" Ed exclaimed, suddenly protective. Winry had always been like a big sister to her, and she wasn't about to let her family get hurt.

"What's wrong?" Winry asked.

"Uh, nothing..." Ed trailed off. "Try to keep on your toes. And don't go off exploring. Not on your own. It's not safe here, so be careful, all right?" Ed warned.

"Okay, I will be," Winry said before walking off with Neil to his workshop.

"I see she's got her parents enthusiasm," Kimblee commented once Winry was out of hearing range. "Well, then, your little upgrade's all taken care of and out of the way. So why don't we find a place to sit down? I'm eager to discuss our business."

* * *

"You've got a job for me?" Ed asked after they had sat down to discuss business.

"That's correct, you are a State Alchemist, after all," Kimblee said. "And it's a few jobs, actually. Three. All from the Furher. First off, he wants you to hunt down Scar. You just find him; I'll take care of the rest. Secondly, he wants you to locate Dr. Marcoh, who has very likely fled with scar."

"Why is Dr. Marcoh with Scar?" Ed asked. Last time she had seen him was when she was on her way to Resembool to get her arm repaired.

"The only thing you need to worry about is finding them," Kimblee assured. "And last, but not lease, he wants you to carve a crest of blood here."

"A crest of blood?" Ed asked. What the hell was that?

"Just like what I did in Ishval," Kimblee answered. "It's very simple. We kill everyone here and soak the land with their blood."

Ed jumped, slamming her hands on the table. "I would never take part-!" Kimblee held a hand over his lips and pointed to the other room. Right. Winry was there with Kimblee's soldiers.

"Did you really join the military without being prepared to kill someone?" Kimblee asked as Ed took her seat once more.

"I was determined not to kill," she answered.

"Well, how original of you," Kimblee said, obviously bored of the answer. "I suppose you could take just as much from that decision."

"Listen, Kimblee," Ed began. "Do you have any idea what they're doing? What you're helping them to achieve? They're gonna-"

"I'm curious to see how the world will change," Kimblee interrupted.

"What?" Ed asked.

"Both sides clashing. Will against will. Life versus life. Humans or the Homunculi? Which one will triumph? Which side does the world prefer? The Homunculi like to see themselves as the next step in the evolution of humanity. But that's for history to decide. I just plan on helping it make up its mind."

"Have you forgotten that you're a human?" Ed asked. "How can you take sides with them?"

"Because they've given me complete freedom to use my alchemy however I want."

"You're insane, Kimblee."

"My standards do tend to differ from society's," Kimblee said. "However, if I survive this battle, then the world will have chosen my sanity over yours. I stake my being, the very core of my own existence; that is what I'm willing to bet on the outcome of this battle."

"Kimblee, you don't make any sense," Ed commented.

"That's surprising; I'd always kind of assumed that self-centeredness was a universal trait of all alchemists," Kimblee said. "Well, the Furher did say that I couldn't manipulate you using your female gender that you're so desperate to keep hidden. Let's see if I can find something that you _do_ selfishly crave. Something you and your brother want more than anything. And if you do what we ask, I'll give it to you." Kimblee placed a Philosophers stone down on the table in front of the blonde.

Ed paused. "I need to consult with Al and Winry."

"Why tell Winry?" Kimblee asked.

"She has no idea that she's involved," Ed said. "Despite what you're asking of me, I refuse to hide the truth from her."

"Fine, then, but you're not telling her without me there," Kimblee said. "I don't want you telling her too much."

"Oh, and by the way," Ed began.

"Yes?" Kimblee asked.

"Is the Furher gonna tell _everyone_ that I'm actually a girl?"

* * *

 **Please let me know if I make any mistakes. God I need a beta.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Ed groaned slightly. She and Alphonse were being guarded heavily by two of Kimblee's men and they weren't going to be let out of their sight. Ed had been thinking of a plan to ditch them ever since they had been assigned to watch over them. They were in the North City searching for Scar as promised, but there didn't seem to be a lot of people around. Probably scared when there were a bunch of military soldiers around.

"Hey! I saw someone over there!" Ed and Alphonse shouted at the same time. Before the other soldiers even had time to react, they had bolted into an abandoned building and were running down the corridors in an attempt to escape. When they turned a corner, Ed quickly transmuted a wall in the middle of the hallway so the others couldn't follow. It wasn't like any of them were alchemists.

"And that's that!" Ed smirked as they reached the roof of the building and successfully escaped their guards. "I'm pretty sure we lost them."

* * *

Ed couldn't believe it. Mei had come to them along with Scar and even Dr. Marcoh. Oh, and some yuppie Ed couldn't remember, but who really cared about him. Of course, Scar was now injured because of a battle between soldiers before Ed and Al had found him, though he was restrained after they had found each other. Miles had soon shown up with Winry in tow.

"Why?" Winry asked Scar. "Why did you kill my mother and father?"

"There's nothing I can say that won't sound like an excuse. And nothing can change the fact that I'm responsible for their deaths," Scar explained. "I killed them. Young girl, you have every right to pass judgement on me."

Winry paused, looking over him. The last time she had seen Scar was when she held a gun to him. Ed had stopped her from shooting, though. Thank god for Ed.

"Your arm; you'll die if we don't bandage it," Winry said as she fished for a rag, wrapping up Scar's arm to prevent further bleeding.

"Winry..." Ed trailed off.

"Quiet, Ed," Winry snapped. "I think...I think this is what my parents would have wanted. Mom and dad saved his life before, after all. There has to be a reason for that."

"Does that mean you'll forgive me?" Scar asked shocked.

"Don't get me wrong," Winry said. "I don't forgive your want in murdering."

"Winry..." Ed couldn't help herself but to speak up again.

"It's all right," Winry said. "I won't cry. Didn't I promise that the next time I cried, they would be tears of joy?"

"Listen, Scar," Ed said. "No matter what Winry says, I still wanna beat you bloody and drag you down to the Rockbell family grave to pay your respects."

"I heard they're using the Rockbell girl as a hostage against you," Miles said, coming up with a plan. "If we act now, we can disgrace Kimblee and find some place to hide her where they can't touch her." He held his gun up to Scar. "Listen up, Scar. If you're willing to work with us, I'll postpone your judgement day."

"It doesn't look like you're going to give me any other choice," Scar said. "Yes, I'll help you."

"I have your word on that?" Miles asked.

"You do, I swear on my Ishvalan blood," Scar said. "You can trust me, my red eyed brother."

"We have a deal then," Miles said. "My apologies, miss Rockbell. We'll have to wait a while before we can punish your parents' killer."

"Fine," Winry said.

Marcoh held up a map of the mines in plans to escape, pointing through the direction to take. "The tunnels come out past the mountain."

"Right, once you run into Briggs soldiers, hand them this," Miles said, handing Marcoh a slip of paper. "I've explained our arrangement so you shouldn't have any trouble with them."

"Thank you," Marcoh thanked. "But there's still the matter of young miss Rockbell. She can accompany us to the fort, of course, but when word gets out that she's missing, won't the Elric brothers be the first people they suspect?"

"We can handle ourselves," Alphonse said.

"Yeah, I hate to brag, but I've got a pretty smooth tongue, you know," Ed added.

"No, this is Kimblee we're dealing with; he's very skeptical," Miles said. "He's automatically going to be suspicious of anything you tell him."

"Um, I hate to be the one to suggest this, but...what do you think Kimblee would do if I was suddenly taken hostage by Scar?"

Ed and Al stared at Winry, dumbfounded by what she had just said.

"You want him to kidnap you?" Alphonse asked.

"Hold on, Winry, you're saying you want us to let him go?!" Ed exclaimed.

"Right," Winry said. "Scar runs away carrying me. Then, Ed, you and the others try desperately to stop him, or at least that's what you pretend to do. Understand?"

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT; IT'S CRAZY!" Ed shouted.

"WELL I DON'T HAVE A CHOICE, DO I?!" Winry yelled back. "I'm a hostage either way, so I might as well get to choose my captor!"

"But he's a mass murderer!" Al protested.

"Al's right! There's no reason to be risking your life!" Ed interjected.

"don't you get it?" Winry asked. "It's time for you two to learn that you don't have to do everything on your own!"

"Make up your minds, the storm is coming in," Miles said. "If we don't hurry, we won't be able to get out of here."

"I can see Kimblee's forces now," a soldier called out.

"Dammit!" Ed shouted. "Scar, if you do anything to hurt her I'll-"

"I won't harm the girl," Scar interrupted. "I keep my promises."

"All right, Scar, give us a good performance," Miles ordered.

"I know what I'm doing," Scar responded.

As the others were guiding Winry out of the building, one of the soldiers stopped her.

"Excuse me, miss, your ears," he said. Winry touched a hand to her earrings. The earrings Ed had given her those years ago. "Your earrings are made out of metal. If you don't take them out, you'll get frostbite."

"All right," Winry said, taking them out with haste. She turned to Ed and placed them in her hands. "Ed, you hang onto these for me. I'll see you back at the fort."

* * *

The building exploded just as Edward was running out, catching her in the smoke and mess. "Dammit!" she exclaimed.

"What's going on in there, Fullmetal?" Kimblee asked.

"You bastard!" Ed shouted. "This is all your fault, Kimblee! You were supposed to be watching Winry!" And it was all his fault. Ed knew this whole thing was Kimblee's fault. She didn't want to let her go into the clutches of a murderer.

"Mister Kimblee, look up there on the roof!" a soldier exclaimed, pointing to Scar holding Winry in his arms on the roof.

"Tell me something, Kimblee, do you remember when we first met?" Scar asked from above. "It seems we've changed places."

"You shouldn't be so confident!" Kimblee smirked.

"Kimblee, damn you!" Ed shouted. "Tell me why! Why is Winry here?! We finally got Scar cornered and now he's taken her hostage because of your!"

"Stand aside," Kimblee said as he prepared to clap his hands together in a transmutation. Ed gripped them quickly.

"What are you doing?! Stop! Stop this now, Crimson Alchemist!" Ed shouted. "Can't you see that Winry's up there with him?! I won't let you attack!"

Kimblee dropped his hands. "Not so fast, Ishvalan!"

"No, wait!" a soldier called out. "It's much too dangerous to get close to the building!"

As the others walked from the building, Miles stayed close to the Elrics.

"That was a convincing performance," Miles commented.

"It wasn't a performance," Ed said. "I'm every bit as angry as I sounded back there. I feel so worthless having to put on this stupid charade."

"But at least Winry's safe," Al added.

* * *

"General Armstrong has been summoned back to the Central Command Center," Miles told the Elrics.

"This is bad," Ed said. "Without General Armstrong at Briggs..."

"A commander handpicked by Bradley will be posted in her place," Miles finished.

"What do we do about Winry?!" Ed exclaimed. Without the help from the military, it was difficult to keep her safe.

"Hiding her and the others will be difficult," Miles spoke. "If they're not careful, they're bound to fall into the enemies' clutches."

"We have to find a way to warn them," Ed said.

"There's no way we can catch up to them in a storm this bad," Miles said.

"So we sit there and do nothing?!" Ed asked. "I'll go tell them."

"Don't underestimate the storm out there, kid," a soldier spoke. "You'll freeze to death before you get anywhere close to catching up."

"There is a way," Alphonse spoke suddenly. "Send someone without a body. That storm won't freeze me to death."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Ed sat back and waited for the troops to gather their squads in a search for Scar and Winry. Kimblee was speaking with soldiers up ahead as was Miles, gathering everyone together. Meanwhile Ed couldn't help but think the Alphonse decoy was a bad idea. He had made armor and the soldier named Mick had taken residence inside of it.

"Let's get going," Miles called to Ed and Mick.

"Yes sir," Mick called out.

"Don't get carried away, _Alphonse_ ," Ed groaned out. "There's no reason to call the major 'sir'."

"It's hard to move around in here," Mick complained. "Couldn't you have made this thing lighter?"

"You're strong, you can handle it," Ed responded, walking ahead.

"Hold on, brother!" Mick called out in a high-pitched voice. Ed caught the glance Kimblee sent to them.

"Hurry up, come on," Ed groaned out once more.

* * *

Edward knew the snipers were getting into position to take Kimblee out. She knew it, but she couldn't let them shoot the man. Despite everything he had done, Kimblee was still a human being and didn't deserve to die.

"Hey, Kimblee, you should probably let the Briggs soldiers check the tunnel instead," Ed said. "You could get lost in there pretty easily."

"The mere fact that you're stopping me is proof that we're in the right place," Kimblee said. "Now I _know_ that they're down there."

"And how is that?" Ed asked. "Look, I want to catch scar-"

"You're trying to buy some time for your snipers to get into position, aren't you?" Kimblee asked in interruption. Ed paused and gulped.

"You knew about that?"

"I could practically smell the murderous intent in the air around here," Kimblee said. "It's like a sixth sense I've picked up in Ishval." Once again with the comments about him being in Ishval.

 _Jeez, dude, we know you killed a lot of people, shut up,_ Ed thought to herself.

Before Ed knew it, Kimblee was transmuting the very ground they were standing on, making a cloud of snow that couldn't be seen through. The pressure was so intense from the cloud being created through explosion that Ed was pushed back by it.

"Dammit!" Ed growled, trying to see through the snow. She caught a glimpse of Kimblee walking away into the mine shaft. "Kimblee!" The man had the nerve to smirk at her as he walked away. "Son of a...!" Ed was just about to run after him before she was swiped at by a claw.

"I should've guessed you guys were chimeras," Ed commented as she caught sight of Darius and Heinkel. She tried to watch through the snow as they encircled her, though she could only catch glimpses of their shadows. "Damn you, Kimblee. I can't see anything." She continued to watch. "On the bright side, they can't see me either." Suddenly a claw reached out and gripped Ed by the neck into a choke hold.

"There's no point in trying to run, Fullmetal Alchemist," Heinkel said. "You can't hide from us here. We may not see you, but we can smell you."

"Sh-Shut up," Ed spoke with her weakening voice from the choke hold. She transmuted her automail into a blade and sliced into the chimera's arm and kicking him away, forcing him to drop her from his hold.

"Fullmetal!" Ed heard the other soldiers call.

"What's going on in there?" Miles shouted. "Edward! Answer me!"

"Major Miles!" Ed exclaimed. "These guys are chimeras and they know how to fight in low visibility. Stay out of here, trust me!" Ed continued to fight until she lost her footing on a patch of snow hanging off a ledge. She couldn't help but scream as she plummeted down the ledge.

"Ow!" Ed groaned as she picked herself up off the ground. "Falling like that's gonna stunt my growth even more." Looking around to capture her surroundings, Ed quickly noticed boxes of dynamite. "Dynamite, huh? There's one perk to fighting in a mine."

She quickly got to work on her plan of attack and knew when the chimera had both found their way down to her. She turned, holding the dynamite in her hands.

"Whoa, you might wanna keep your distance, guys; these aren't exactly cigars I'm holding."

"You idiot, that stuff isn't gonna do you any good; it's too damp," Darius said.

"You sure about that?" Ed asked. "You happen to know what dynamite's made of?"

"It's nitroglycerin, isn't it?" Heinkel asked.

"And nitroglycol," Darius added. "And there's sawdust. Isn't there ammonium nitrate in it too?"

"Yes there is!" Ed said cheerily. "And what's ammonium nitrate made out of?"

"That's easy, nitric acid and ammonia," Heinkel answered. The chimera took a moment before they realized.

"AMMONIA!"

The explosion opened up the mine in the area that Kimblee happened to be in. Ed sat down on the two chimeras in triumph.

"What's that disgusting smell?" Kimblee asked.

"That's ammonia," Ed answered. "It's the downside of having a sharp nose. I doubt they'll be of much use to ya now."

"Your attitude changed rather quickly now that I've lost my hostage," Kimblee said.

"What did you expect to happen?" Ed asked as she stood and began to walk toward Kimblee. "Let's make this easy. All I want here is for you to tell me everything you know."

"Oh, is that all you want from me?" Kimble asked. "I just got out of the hospital and I don't feel like getting banged up fighting a youngster like you. Not to mention that I don't really have the time, either. I guess I'll have to speed things up with this." Kimblee held up a Philosophers stone in his hand.

Ed frowned. But at least she wouldn't have to go to any further lengths to find it. Thinking quickly, she lunged toward the alchemist in an attempt to get the stone away from the older alchemist.

"Too slow!" Ed exclaimed as she took her automail blade and slashed through Kimblee's hand. No transmutation circle meant no transmutations. It wasn't like he would take the time to draw one out, not that he had any materials. The Philosophers stone toppled safely down the mine shaft, meaning he couldn't transmute at all.

"And now I've-!"

"And now what?" Kimblee interrupted. "You think you've won? So you're determined not to kill. How admirable of you. You do realize the advantage it gives to your opponent now, don't you? Instead of finishing me off," Kimblee paused, allowing a second Philosophers stone to roll out of his mouth and onto his hand. "you've given me a second chance to kill you. That sense of mercy is about to get you in a lot of trouble."

Ed barely had time to think before the mine exploded and she blacked out.

* * *

 **So I literally posted this just so I could address an anonymous review of mine. I was going to post this tomorrow, but you can thank this anon for it getting posted today.**

 **They said, ":I like this a lot but please dont end it like last time". Well, little buddy, I won't end it like last time. I said this was going to stray away from the original and I'm delivering. Chapter fifteen is where it leaves the manga, but there are bits (like in chapter twelve) that are important for the future.**

 **I'm not gonna pull a fourteen-year old me stunt and do what I did last time. Now you've got nineteen-year old me. Buckle up, kiddies, this is gonna be a rough ride.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

When she came to, Ed looked around to see that she was down in the mine shaft on the ground. She felt exhausted, though. Like she could take a nap for a week.

"Must've fallen down the mine shaft..." she trailed off, talking to herself. "Dammit, I can't let Kimblee get away..."

Ed tried to pull herself up before she felt a tugging feeling, preventing her from moving very much. "Wait..." she trailed off. Turning her head to face the back of her, she saw a large pole sticking right out of her abdomen. "No..." Suddenly she could feel all the pain. She collapsed back onto the ground from where she had been able to pull herself up to and allowed her eyes to slip shut.

She had probably been there for a good five minutes before she decided she wasn't going to let herself stay there. If she was gonna die, it wasn't gonna be in a damn mine shaft with chimeras a few feet away. And besides... "I won't make her cry... Especially not over something this stupid."

In a fluid movement, Ed managed to gather the strength to transmute the pole sticking out of to break off, leaving a small piece of the pole inside of her. Afterward, she transmuted the ground to lift the rubble off of the chimera not far from her.

"Hey, Fullmetal kid," Darius spoke. "You still alive? What made you decide to rescue us?"

"You're more injured than we are," Heinkel added.

"Don't get the wrong idea," Ed spoke weakly. "I can't pull this out of my stomach on my own. I could use...a little bit of help."

"We were enemies just five minutes ago and now you're asking us to save your life?" Darius asked.

"Yeah, basically," Ed answered.

"Well, it's not like we were given order to kill you,' Darius said. The two dipped down to the ground. "Come on," Darius said as he pulled Ed's back onto his lap.

"You know, kid, you're gonna bleed to death pretty quickly once I pull this out," Heinkel said.

"Not if I heal it," Ed said. "As soon as it's out of me, I'll close up the wound with alchemy."

"What?" Darius asked.

"Have you ever performed any kind of medical alchemy before?" Heinkel asked.

"Sort of," Ed answered. "I did some research on it when I tried human transmutation."

"Just some research?" Darius asked. "Your guts have gotta be all messed up. You're gonna need a Philosophers stone to make this work."

"I'm gonna have to use my own life force the same way I'd use a stone," Ed explained. "It'll probably take a few years off my life span, though."

"You're positive?" Heinkel asked.

"I don't really have time to think about it," Ed said. "If this is really what showing mercy is gonna cost me then I'm gonna have to learn to pay the price, right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but it sounds like you're sure," Heinkel said. "Ready?"

Ed took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm ready."

It was a searing pain. Unlike ever before, and Ed had had her arm and leg ripped from her own body. It was difficult to concentrate on trying to use her life as a Philosophers stone. She could barely hear herself think through the screaming she was making. Her stomach felt like it was being shredded along with her throat. She managed to actually transmute her abdomen after the pole was removed. Oh, it still hurt like hell, but it was much better than before.

There was silence.

"Did he make it?" Heinkel asked.

"You can't kill me that easily," Ed commented, opening her eyes.

"Wow, you mean it worked?" Darius asked.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say that I'm healed," Ed said. "I rejoined my undamaged organs and I managed to stop the bleeding, but it won' last for long."

"Oh, then you need a real doctor," Heinkel said.

"No, I don't have time for that," Ed protested, standing herself up and beginning to walk away from the chimeras.

"Wha-hey!" Heinkel called out.

"I've gotta...stop Kimblee...before he...gets...to..." Ed couldn't keep herself up anymore and collapsed to the ground once again.

* * *

Ed was _so_ comfortable. More comfortable than she had been for weeks. Well, she was, until she realized what had happened and that Kimblee was after Winry and the others.

"Kimblee!" Ed exclaimed as she jumped up from bed. She gripped at her stomach with her hand when she felt a sudden surge of pain.

"Hey, don't freak out like that," Darius said. "You've got stitches that are healing right now."

"I've got to get to Kimblee," Ed said. "He's after my brother and friend. He'll catch them and hold them hostage..." She couldn't keep herself sitting up anymore and collapsed back down on the bed. "Where are we?"

"We're in some doctor's office," Darius answered. "They don't know who we are and won't tell anyone that we're here."

"Great," Ed said.

"Speaking of not knowing who were are," Heinkel spoke suddenly. "You're a girl?"

"Huh?" Ed asked. "Who said that?"

"The doctors and that tight shirt you're wearing," Darius said. Ed looked down and saw that they had dressed her in a tight fitting tank top. She didn't even own one of those, where did it come from? More importantly, who changed her?

"Damn it all to hell," Ed muttered. "You guys didn't change me into this, right?"

"No!" Darius and Heinkel exclaimed simultaneously, repulsed at the thought of undressing a minor teenage girl.

"The female doctor did," Darius answered.

"Cat's out of the bag now," Ed said. "Yeah, I'm a girl."

"What's your real name then?" Heinkel asked. "It's not like when you were born your folks named you Edward."

"Legally, my name is Edward," Ed said. "Had it changed when I was twelve. But I always have and always will go by Ed. You can call me that."

"Sure thing, Ed," Heinkel said. "You should get some rest so we can get out of here as quickly as possible. We don't want to stay in one place too long."

"And I need to find Kimblee," Ed reminded them.

"We'll find him when you're better," Heinkel said. Though, neither of the chimeras wanted to go anywhere _near_ Kimblee when he thought they were dead. "Just go to sleep or I'll knock you out myself."

"Fine, fine." It didn't take a lot of work for Ed to drift out of consciousness once more.

* * *

 **So this was my favorite part of the entire brotherhood. I think I just like seeing Ed get hurt and all, so I really enjoyed it. And the way (s)he was kind of dependent on Darius and Heinkel made me happy.**

 **So I'm going to start responding to anonymous reviews at the end of every chapter. I always feel badly that I can't respond to them when they don't have accounts, but now I'm getting at it.**

 **Anon Lily: "Thank you for answering my review and uploading another chapter :) I am the anon you can call me Lily"**

 **Hi, Lily! To go into more depth about your previous review, this is going to take a different direction than the original, so I won't be ending it like last time.** **I just finished writing chapter nineteen, and I could possibly just screw everyone over and end it like last time, but I think I'm going to do something completely different.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I tried to upload this yesterday, but the servers were down? I couldn't log in and I was getting a 502 error.**

* * *

 **Chapter Ten**

Ed was finally recovered. She had been able to leave the crummy doctor's office for some grub a few times and that's what she had been out doing. However, when she returned, there was an MP standing in front of the door to the office. They had been planning on leaving anyway, and that's why Ed had sent Darius with her pocket watch to get some money out of her bank account. She should have guessed they would run into trouble. She practically deserted.

"Hold it," the MP spoke as he noticed her walking up to the door with bags of food. "Do you work at this doctor's office?" Ed stayed silent, chewing on a stick of food and letting the MP assume that she did work in the office. "Have you seen anyone unusual frequenting the clinic lately?" he asked. "We're looking for a military officer. He's described as wearing a red coat, blonde hair worn in a braid, and short."

Why did people always think she was short?! Well, she was normal sized for any _girl_ her age, but not really for a boy. Still, she snapped on the man. She would've had to take him out anyway. She moved to a different position while waiting for any other MPs to come out.

"Harris?" another MP asked as he came out of the office. "Harris? Harris! What happened to you! Come on, snap to! Harris-!" Ed interrupted the man's yelling by knocking him out in the process. They needed to move. She went inside of the office to stake out the place and find out if there were any other MPs. Usually they came in teams. She wasn't surprised to hear another one in the back room where she had been staying.

"Coen! Harris!" the MP called out. "What's going on?! Hey, answer me!" Ed had enough of the stupid military's babbling. She was also done being merciful. She rammed her automail arm through the wall and used it to hold the MP in a choke hold. She knew she had got him when he stopped his insufferable shouting. After a moment, he was on the ground.

"Damn, you just _had_ to take them out on your own, huh?" Darius asked as he got out of the bed Ed had been laying in to recover in before. "You're pretty reckless, kid. You haven't even fully recovered yet."

"Don't treat me like I'm an invalid," Ed said as she turned the corner into the room. Honestly, even if he treated her like an invalid, it was better than him treating her like a girl. The chimeras had yet to do that. "My injuries are completely healed and I'm revving it full throttle."

"In any case, we better get out of here," Heinkel commented. "We've been here long enough. Sooner or later more MPs are gonna be out here looking for us." They didn't really have anything to pack up, but they got their shit and got out.

"Thanks for everything you've done, doc," Darius said. Ed rolled her eyes. They paid them enough for it.

"Don't worry about it; just go," the male doctor said.

"We've had about all the trouble we can take for today," the female doctor added.

As the three of them made their way out of the building, Ed lifted the slip of paper the MP was reading off to describe her. She figured she'd have to make sure with her current look for a while. Hell, she might just have to wear feminine clothing and be disguised. She currently had her hair down, though had switched from a red coat to a white one.

"Freeze!" an MP shouted from behind them. They turned around. "Drop your weapons!"

"We took too long," Heinkel commented.

"Get your hands up in the air!" an MP shouted. "Do it now!"

"Move, kid, those guys are dangerous!" the other shouted.

Darius and Heinkel shared a look before grabbing Ed in their arms.

"Stay back or he's dead!" Heinkel shouted, holding a gun up to Ed's head.

"Don't force us to blow this kid's brains out!" Darius added, though he was really just holding up his fingers in the shape of a gun to Ed's head. The MPs didn't register that and let them go. Unfortunately, when they ended up outside, there were even more MPs.

"I'll hotwire some wheels for us," Darius said, still holding Ed in his arm as they ran.

"Okay," Heinkel agreed. Ed wondered how they even knew _how_ to hotwire a car. It wasn't like everyone in the military knew how. Though, Mustang had always stopped her from learning stuff like that.

Thankfully Darius turned out to be quick at hotwiring. They were in the car and driving with soldiers on their tail before they knew it, Ed staring into the back window to see them gaining on them.

She turned and faced Darius. "Hey, gorilla, step on it!"

"Don't call me that!" Darius shouted.

"Just drive faster!" Ed exclaimed.

"these guys are from Northern Command!" Darius said. "We're never gonna ditch 'em!" Suddenly a car pulled out in front of them and Darius had to swerve the car. Through the snow the car swerved more than usual, but Darius was able to regain control of the vehicle.

"That was a little too close," Heinkel commented.

"How's it looking behind us?" Darius asked.

"Not good," Ed answered. "They're right on us!"

"Dammit!" Darius exclaimed.

Ed suddenly hatched a plan and pulled herself forward, pointing to a street. "Turn there! I've got an idea!"

"What?" Darius asked.

"Just shut up and turn!" Ed shouted.

"This better be a good plan," Darius responded.

"Just park the car as soon as we turn," Ed ordered as she clapped her hands and prepared for a transmutation. The car turned quickly in the icy road and just as Darius had parked the car, Ed performed a transmutation that changed to outward appearance of it.

"Whew," Ed breathed out in relief. "And you doubted me."

"Yeah, well can you change it back into a normal car now?" Darius asked, irritated with the new design. The outside of the car was purple and red with yellow horns sticking out the front.

"And why is that?" Ed asked. "I think this car looks cool as hell!"

"Just change it back," Darius said. "Please, we're begging you."

"You guys got a problem with my sense of style?!" Ed shouted.

"You don't have any!" the chimeras stated simultaneously.

"Seriously, it's hard to believe you're really a girl under all that," Darius said.

"Oh, shut up," Ed said as she rolled her eyes. She transmuted the car back into a normal looking car like they asked once they were a safe distance away. "What is 'all that'? And how is a girl supposed to be?"

"It's not how a girl is really 'supposed' to be, but usually girls are feminine," Heinkel said. "Everything you're not. What kind of girl has _always_ gone by the boy name 'Ed'?"

"It's short for Edelle, all right?" Ed said grumpily. "My brother had trouble saying it when we were little and always called me 'Ed'. The name grew on me. When I turned twelve I had it legally changed to Edward so I could enter the military without anyone questioning me."

"How'd you get away with passing as a guy?" Darius asked.

"Well, I was ten with short hair when I was recruited," Ed said. "Well, it was almost down to my shoulders. I was growing it out."

"You're telling me that you were only ten when you were recruited?" Heinkel asked in a shocked tone.

"Yep!" Ed smirked proudly. Finally, something she could actually talk about. "Ten when I was recruited, had automail surgery, walking at eleven, studying 'till twelve, and finally passed the exam about a month after my twelfth birthday," Ed explained.

"And how old are you now?" Darius asked.

"I'm almost seventeen," Ed answered quietly. There were a few minutes of silence in the car that the chimeras hadn't expected.

"Why so quiet?" Darius asked.

Heinkel looked back. "Kid's sleeping."

"'Bout time."

* * *

 **Lily (Anon): "Thank you for updating. I really really like this story :)"**

 **Well, I'm glad! Hopefully you like it better than the last one, which was…rough.**


	11. Chapter 11

**So, as of writing out chapter twenty-one, I've officially decided on a pairing for Ed! Who do you think it is?**

 **Hint: You'll be blown away by the character I've paired with her.**

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven**

They had stopped to go to the bathroom, but Ed was mostly thinking about what to do about finding Al and the others. She shouldn't have let her guard down around Kimblee. Because of it she had been injured and was put out of work for two weeks. The stitches in her stomach had been removed, but the flesh around it was still tender, and she knew should could open the wound easily still. But she needed to focus all of her energy on Al. She hoped he found Winry.

"Hey, Fullmetal, quit spacing out," Darius called, breaking Ed from her thoughts. "So what's the next plan of action?"

"Well, let's see..." Ed trailed off, drifting back to her thoughts. "The first thing I need to do is meet up with Al. He should be with Dr. Marcoh by now."

"Well, where are they?" Darius asked.

"You do know how to find them, right?" Heinkel asked.

Ed rubbed her hand against her chin in thought. If she was going to find Al, she would have to think like Al. If she were Al, where would she go?

"I've got it," Ed said.

* * *

Ed sighed. The last place she had been with the others before anyone knew her secret. Well, before Ling had found out. She knew this was where Al would be.

"Where are we?" Darius asked as he looked at the wrecked house. It was in pieces from when Gluttony had attacked them.

"We've used this place as a hide out before," Ed answered, not going into details about the last time they had used it. It really hadn't ended well.

"And you're positive your brother's here," Heinkel said.

"Oh, yeah, I know Al better than he knows himself," Ed said. "This is the only place he would be."

They made their way into the crumbling house to see it's empty state.

"Hey! There's nobody here!" Darius exclaimed as he whacked Ed over the head. "Yeah, you really know your brother."

"We busted our tails for hundreds of miles for an empty house," Heinkel commented. He suddenly sniffed the air before pushing himself back against the wall and cocking his gun hastily. Ed and Darius followed suit. Ed was about to peek around the corner when Ling crashed to the ground in front of her.

"Ling!" Ed stared down at her friend. "I mean...Greed."

"Hungry...need...food..."

"Heh," Ed laughed. "No, it's Ling."

They handed over their rations to the Xingese prince, who seemed to be growing stronger with his stomach being filled.

"Oh, wow, that did the trick!" Ling exclaimed. "Thanks, Edward, you're too kind." At least Ling wasn't calling her 'Edelle'.

"It's amazing that you're not a giant fatass," Ed commented.

"You're telling me," Darius added. "He ate all of our rations."

"Are you gonna introduce me to your pals?" Ling asked.

"Well, that's Mr. Gorill-" Ed began.

"My name's Darius!" Darius interrupted.

"And I'm Heinkel," Heinkel added. "We're ex-military, but we wound up getting stuck working with this kid somehow."

"Now what's this guy's story?" Darius asked Ed. Because everyone had a story.

"Well, let's see..." Ed trailed off. "It's really kind of complicated."

"More complicated than being a girl lying about being a boy?" Heinkel asked.

"I'm a homunculus!" Ling answered cheerily.

"Can you _try_ to be more discreet?" Ed practically growled.

"Seriously?" Darius asked.

"It'll take too long to explain," Ed said. "And what are you doing here? I thought you might be in Central."

"Well, to tell you the truth, Greed had a falling out with the other Homunculi so I took advantage of his confusion and managed to regain control of my body," Ling explained. "I had to get out of Central and needed some place close by to hide, so...I..."

"What's the matter?" Ed asked.

"It's Greed," Ling managed out, obviously struggling. "He's starting to fight back..."

"Hey!" Ed exclaimed. "NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! Fight back, you idiot! Don't let him overpower you!" Ed beat on Ling's head as she shouted this.

"Jeez!" Ling groaned, pushing Ed's hand away from him. "Listen; that guy beneath Central, the one they call Father, he's gonna open the portal on the day of reckoning. I could be wrong about this, but I think you and Al should jump in when he does. It's the best chance of getting your bodies back."

"Wait a minute, this makes sense and everything, but there's a toll that must be paid to even open the portal," Ed said. "This day of reckoning; do you know the exact day he's gonna open it?"

"It's happening..." Ling trailed off as he struggled against a losing battle against the Homunculus.

"Ling! Come on!" Ed shouted.

"Dammit, I can't hold him much longer," Ling groaned out. "The message; you got it to Lan Fan, right? You gave her the message."

"The message?" Ed asked for a moment before she remembered the strip of cloth with the foreign lettering that Greed had given them. "Al gave it to her. And she's doing all right. I don't know where she is, but she's safe."

"Thank you, Ed," Ling thanked. "That's good to hear."

"Ling!" Ed shouted.

"Sorry, that's it for me," Ling said. "I'm gonna..." Suddenly a new voice took over. "Damn, pain in the ass prince, he needs to learn to keep his big mouth shut."

"Is that you, Greed?" Ed asked.

"Yeah, what tipped you off," Greed said as he rolled his eyes. Heinkel cocked his gun in the direction of him. "Don't even bother; you can't even scratch me with that thing." He stood from where he had been sitting and began to walk off. "Well, see you later."

"Hey, aren't you gonna try to capture us?" Ed asked. It seemed like that's what Bradley was hell bent on doing.

"Eh?" Greed asked. "Were you even listening to anything that prince told you? I'm working on my solo career now. All these memories started coming back and I kinda went nuts and attacked Bradley. Who knows what they'd do to me if I came crawling back? And I don't really work well with others, so it's probably for the best and that's that."

"Then why don't you team up with us?" Ed suggested. "You've got nowhere to go. Why not come with us?"

"Team up with _you_? You want me to follow a little girl like _you_?" Greed laughed. Ed frowned, but she needed Greed on their side. He had power, that's for sure. "Thanks for the laugh. Up yours, kid. This world is my possession, not yours. Now, it's a different story if you wanna follow me. You're welcome to join _my_ team. Later."

Ed sat in thought as Greed walked away. Despite the fact that he wasn't really on anyone's side but his own, Greed was a great asset to their team. Even if Greed would be the leader, Ed could still have a chance to use him for that day of reckoning thing Ling was talking about.

"Let's go," Ed said as she ran off after Greed. The two chimeras shared a look of doubt in their young leader and ran after her.

"Hey! Ling!" Ed called out. "Wait up!"

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm Greed, not Ling," Greed said as he turned toward them.

"It's too difficult to keep track of," Ed brushed it off. "I'll just call you Greedling from now on."

"No you will not!" Greed shouted.

"Listen to me, Greedling; I'll follow you," Ed began. She could see Greed stop in his tracks slightly at the news. "I've thought about it and I've decided to join your team after all, if you don't mind a _girl_ joining. And since these guys seem to follow me everywhere, you've got two chimeras on your team as well."

"Who do you think you are?!" Darius shouted. "You don't get to make that decision!"

"Who said you were our boss, pipsqueak?!" Heinkel exclaimed as well. "You little runt!" The two tackled Ed down to the ground. It was moments like these that she was glad she had told them she was a boy before they found out she was a girl. If anyone knew she was a girl from the start, they would never treat her like this. Well, except Al and Winry.

"I realized something," Ed began from the ground. "I've been a follower ever since I became a dog of the military. I lost my pride a while back. So I'm already used to rolling over on command. And besides, there's too much at stake. I can't let any information you've got slip through the cracks." She needed him for the day of reckoning. "I really can't let my ego get in the way."

"All right, kid, but working with me means you gotta live in the shadows," Greed explained. "I don't want to hear any regrets."

"Gimme a break, I've already got a million regrets!" Ed exclaimed smirking. "What's one more?"

"A million and one," Darius and Heinkel said simultaneously from the background.

"Good, then it's settles," Greed said. He stepped toward the chimeras. "So, then, you guys are working for me too."

"Doesn't seem like we have much choice," Heinkel said.

"I don't care who I follow as long as they feed me," Darius interjected.

"So what kind of chimeras are you?" Greed asked.

"I'm part gorilla," Darius answered.

"I'm part lion," Heinkel said.

"That's pretty cool," Greed commented. Ed lost track of their conversation as she felt something unfamiliar in her pocket.

She pulled out Winry's earrings in her hand. She sighed a little. She had a feeling she wouldn't see Alphonse or Winry for a long time. But they would be safe as long as they were together. She needed to focus on the day of reckoning.

* * *

 **Lily (Anon): "Yay! Thanks for another awesome update. I like how Eds real name is Edelle. I wish my name was something I could shorten. I'm not a girly girl at all. I hate most dresses and anything girly. My name is really girly because it's a flower name. :("**

 **I used to always use 'Ella' for Ed's female name, but I wanted something that meant she could still go by Ed, even after she was no longer disguising herself. It just seemed better that way. I pretty much just googled girl names that had 'Ed' in it. I came up with a few and it was a tie between Eden and Edelle. Since I was watching a tv-show at the time that had a character named Eden, I went with Edelle. And don't even sweat the name stuff. I can't go by anything either and I'm not girly. My name is Hali (pronounced Haylee) and I really didn't want to be referred by that. I got people caling me 'Hal' for a while, but nothing stuck. My dad calls me Bug.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Remember how I said this chapter had something significant to the future chapters? Read carefully for some foreshadowing (is it really foreshadowing, though?) to chapter fifteen.**

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve**

Ed felt more like home here. She felt like she was finally somewhere she belonged. The foursome had ended up in Resembool for some automail repairs, and Ed had immediately holed herself up in Winry's bedroom. She remembered childish times of playing dress-up together - though Ed wasn't particularly fond of Winry trying to put makeup on her - and when they got a bit older and Ed was recovering from her automail surgery, they'd spend time in there talking while Ed rested. She often would find herself in Winry's room after a long day of physical therapy with granny.

If they had gone through normal lives, would her bedroom look like Winry's? It was rather plain, but there were...well, there were purple curtains. Not really much else for girly things. But would Ed have the closet full of clothing and knickknacks? She couldn't imagine.

The others didn't question Ed staying up in Winry's room. They stayed below. Granny hadn't been home when they showed up, so they were waiting for her to return. She was probably at the market or something. Possibly with a neighbor. Everyone knew everyone in Resembool.

Ed had left the room to make a sandwich, but returned to the room. She enjoyed feeling as though she was still young and innocent. Like Winry was there just ready to talk and Al was in his regular body. Ed missed those days.

Suddenly the door to the room opened and Ed almost snapped at the intruder for thinking they could just waltz into Winry's room like she had done. Though, she soon found it to be Winry. Ed didn't know why Winry didn't immediately see her at the desk, but Winry just continued on and began to remove her clothes until she noticed that Ed was there.

"Eh..." Ed trailed off. Winry suddenly screamed, and Ed couldn't understand why. It wasn't like she had anything Winry hadn't seen before! Well, maybe really just thought of Ed as one of the guys now, and for that, she guessed she could be happy. But Winry didn't need to freak out over Ed's presence!

Suddenly the door was jammed open. Thankfully Winry had put her shirt down by that point.

"Hey, what's the matter here?!" Mick suddenly shouted. That's right, Mick and Liam from Briggs were escorting Winry and the others. But where were the others?

"When did Edward Elric get here?" Liam asked.

"Drop your guns!" Darius suddenly shouted from behind them, pointing guns at them.

"What the hell is going on up here?" Greed asked as he held Den by her collar.

"Ling?" Winry asked.

"Wait, you guys are Kimblee's men, aren't you?" Liam asked.

"Hey, I know you guys!" Darius said. "You're from Briggs!"

"You two have been following us this whole time?!" Mick asked.

"Okay, Ed, you wanna tell me what's going on here?" Winry asked as the two tuned out the conversation between the others.

"Looks like a cautionary tale about guns," Ed remarked.

"Don't be a smartass, tell me why you're in my room," Winry ordered.

"I just wanted someplace private to eat my sandwich!" Ed defended herself.

Winry glared at her friend before turning to the others who had found their way deeper into her bedroom than her comfort allowed. "GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" she suddenly shouted, holding a wrench.

"Did you get that out of your bra?!" Ed shouted.

Winry dropped the hand that was holding the wrench. "I was worried about you," she said quietly.

"Yeah..." Ed trailed off. "I was worried about you too."

Winry looked over her friend. Not much had changed, but Ed looked slightly taller than she had been the last time they saw each other. She noticed a glint of metal coming from her friend in a place metal usually didn't reside.

"Are you wearing my earrings?"

* * *

"So why did you come to our house?" Winry asked as they all sat at the dinner table. Granny had returned and Greed had explained everything to them in detail.

"We're trying to get prepared," Greed said. "Her automail's in need of serious maintenance and I need her in peak condition." Ed was having a hard time getting used to people referring to her as a girl and Granny and Winry seemed shocked that others knew.

"Give her a looksee after dinner," Granny said. "It's your fine craftsmanship after all. I'm not really comfortable tinkering with it."

"Yeah, of course," Winry said with a nod.

After dinner, Ed found herself in Winry's room while she had her automail maintained by Winry. It brought back memories from when Winry used to tinker with her automail when they were kids.

"So how long has Ling... I mean...Greed...known about you?" Winry asked.

"More and more people keep finding out," Ed said. She would have shrugged if she could without screwing up Winry's maintenance. "Ling found out before we left for Briggs. Mustang almost found out and Greed just kind of knew when we met up. Darius and Heinkel, the chimeras, found out when they took me to the doctor."

"Why were you at the doctors?" Winry asked worriedly.

"Something happened with Kimblee," Ed answered without giving too much detail. Winry would just get upset. "It's complicated and not really important."

"Always keeping secrets," Winry commented. "Fine, don't tell me. But why did you get your ears pierced?"

"I figured we wouldn't see each other for a while," Ed said. "I don't know, the idea just kind of came to me. I thought it would keep me from losing them until the next time I saw you."

"Well, you can hold onto them for a while more," Winry said. "You keep them until the next time we see each other. It's a promise that you'll come back."

"I'll always come back," Ed said. "Always."

"So Al and I ended up in Liore," Winry said, changing the topic quickly. "They seem to be rebuilding their community."

"You don't say? Liore's getting up and running again." Ed smiled. "Good to hear. I was nervous they might not."

"We ran into your father in Liore," Winry said. "He should be on his way to Central now. I think he's heading for some slum named Kanema. You oughtta go there." After a moment she said quietly, "You know...it's almost Promised Day."

"Ling and Greed told me all about it. It could give us a chance to get our bodies back, but it's most likely gonna result in catastrophe for Amestris." Ed paused. "Listen..."

"What is it?" Winry asked.

"I want you to take Granny and Den and leave the country for a while," Ed said. She couldn't let this ugly thing get to her family.

"I'm not running away!" Winry shouted. "You can't just send us off like that! I know you wanna protect us, but you need to try to save everyone!"

"I'm gonna do everything I can to stop it, but there's a chance it might not work!" Ed shouted. The two found each other right in their faces. Ed even discovered that she was towering over Winry slighter. She finally hit a growth spurt.

"I don't wanna hear any doubts from you!" Winry shouted angrily. "Please, Ed. You can't let them go through with this! Just tell me you're gonna stop them and save the country. I wanna hear you say that you're gonna protect the country and then get your body back. Do whatever it takes to make that happen."

"Winry, you make it sound like it's easy," Ed said with a sigh.

"This isn't the time to start doubting yourself, Ed," Winry said as Ed made her way to the door. "Listen to me!"

"Winry, you just don't know when to shut up, do ya?" Ed asked as she walked out the door and slammed it.

"Edward!" Ed heard Winry call through the door.

Greed laughed from the stairs.

"Oh, man, she's a peach," Greed said with a grin. "Sounds like she wants everything; my kind of girl."

"That kind of wanting is dangerous. That's not how reality works," Ed said, holding up her automail. "Take a look; this is what I got for wanting something unrealistic."

"I disagree," Greed said. "You wanna bring back someone that you lost. You want money, maybe you want women. Or, you wanna protect the world. These are all common things that people want. Things that their hearts desire. Greed may not be good, but it's not so bad either. You humans think that greed is just for money and power, but _everyone_ wants something they don't have." Ed paused as she walked on the stairs, though quickly regained herself and continued walking.

Instead of staying where he stood, Greed followed behind Ed. She felt the Homunculus' presence, though said nothing until they were alone in the empty patient's cottage. It was where Ed had spent plenty of her time after recovering from her transmutation. She spent her time there after her automail surgery until she was cleared to move around by granny Pinako.

"Why are you following me?" Ed asked in the darkness of the room. She hadn't turned the lights on and neither had Greed. It was quiet besides her own breathing. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

"Because I'm Greed," Greed said. "I want everything, remember? Money…power…. Women."

Ed felt herself stop breathing. "I'm Edward Elric. No woman would go by a name like that."

"But your body is that of a woman," Greed said. His hand reached out, turning Ed around forcefully before running his hands down her body. "And you know what I want."

"What if it's not what _I_ want?" Ed asked. "I may have the body of a woman, but that doesn't mean I would want to do something as disgusting as waste myself on you."

"As I said before," Greed began. " _Everyone_ wants something they don't have. Especially women."

"I don't want you," Ed said, repeating herself over and over until she felt herself pinned Ed to the wall they were standing in front of. "I don't," she said.

"Stop," she spoke.

* * *

"You're leaving in the middle of the night?" Winry asked as the group prepared to leave. They were standing outside the Rockbell house. It was better they leave this early, anyway. They still couldn't risk anyone seeing Ed and the chimeras with them being fugitives.

"We were actually planning on leaving earlier today," Ed said. "It was good to see you. And thanks for the tune-up, Winry."

"If you happen to run into Hohenheim, you make sure to give him that message from your mother, all right?" Pinako had forgotten to give it to him the last time she had seen the man, and entrusted Ed with the decision of doing it.

"I will, I will," Ed said as she waved off.

"Wait, Ed!" Winry called. "I need to-" They still hadn't made up from earlier.

"Lay low until the Promised day passes," Ed interrupted. "We're gonna stop them, Winry. And Al and I will be home before you know it. Have an apple pie waiting for us, okay?"

Winry smiled. Their fighting had been completely forgotten. "And make sure to keep my earrings in good condition." Ed smirked and waved as they walked down the dirt road.

"Message from your mother?" Darius asked.

"Apparently she had some message she wanted to give the old guy," Ed said. "I promised I'd hand over the message if I ever saw him."

"Was it the message that his daughter might be a transvestite?" Greed asked.

"SHUT UP!"

* * *

 **So, my publishing these chapters depends on two things; how fast I get ten chapters ahead of the one I posted done, and how many reviews I get. I was going to publish this chapter earlier, but since there weren't any reviews on the previous chapter, I decided to wait until there was. I've written a bunch more chapters, so my updating schedule depends entirely on you guys. Good luck and good fun. (I finished writing chapter twenty-three and am now working on twenty-four).**

 **Also, I'm not doing this because I want a million reviews on my chapters. I just want to be able to time the chapters properly so people aren't reading the chapters in bulk and don't have enough time to truly appreciate each chapter and what happens in it. Anyway, moving on to answering anons.**

 **Lily: ":) I'm really glad you updated. And I'm really happy to see greed and Ling again because they are my favorite characters".**

 **I'm glad you like Ling and Greed! I actually really like Ling too. He's goofy and stuff and I find that kind of cute. As for Greed, he's my favorite Homunculus, so he's got that going for him. I feel like he's more honest than the other Homunculi with him understanding that everyone's a little greedy. As with the manga, they will be in the next few chapters, but remember, chapter fourteen is where the manga ends.**


	13. Chapter 13

**So, I didn't want to leave chapter twelve up alone for too long because of the implied scene. So, here's an early update!**

* * *

 **Chapter Thirteen**

"Excuse me," Ed called out to a man working in the town. "Is this place called Kanema?"

"It sure is," the man said. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"We're looking for someone," Ed said. "He may be going by Ho?" Winry had mentioned briefly about Hohenheim going by Ho when they were in Liore.

"Oh, yeah, he's over here working," the man said, guiding them. Ed frowned when he saw his father working in the distance.

"Mr. Ho," the man called out. "You've got some company. Hohenheim looked over to his daughter, his eyes lingering on her for some time.

"Edelle," Hohenheim said as he stood. Ed frowned. She hated that name. "I didn't think-" He was interrupted by Ed flying her fist into his face.

"That felt good," Ed said.

"You could've at least warned me you were about to slug me!" Hohenheim exclaimed. "And with your metal hand too!" He stood from the ground, recollecting himself and approaching the foursome. "I see you've made a new group of friends."

"We're not-" Darius began.

"It's more like we're all on the same sinking ship," Heinkel interrupted.

'That's right; and you could say I'm the captain of that ship," Greed added.

"So you're the one in charge then?" Hohenheim asked Greed. The Homunculus nodded. "Then I'd like to thank you for looking after my daughter."

"Sure, but you know she can be in a pain in the ass," Greed commented.

"HEY!" Ed exclaimed.

Hohenheim's eyes lingered toward Greed's hand. "That's an interesting tattoo."

"Yeah, you noticed," Greed said. "Guess there's no point in hiding it. But let's make this honesty thing mutual, pops."

"Look, we need to talk," Ed said. "The Promised Day is tomorrow."

"Fair enough," Hohenheim said. "I'll tell you everything."

Hohenheim explained everything. He explained how he was a living Philosophers stone because of what had happened centuries ago in Xerxes. How 'Father' was created from his own blood. Ed brought a hand to her face in shock. Her father was...Was _she_...?

"I was worried this might be more difficult for you to accept than it was for Alphonse," Hohenheim said.

Ed wanted to lash out about how that could be a remark about her gender, but instead she asked, "Wait, you told Al about this?"

"I did. I'm sure he has his own thoughts on the matter, but he accepted it nonetheless," Hohenheim said. "If you want to use me to get your bodies back, you can."

"Are you crazy?!" Ed exclaimed. "Maybe you _are_ a living Philosophers stone! But I'm not gonna sacrifice innocent souls! It's _our_ fault we lost our bodies!"

"I'm proud my daughter feels that way," Hohenheim said with a smile on his face. He marveled on the fact that his daughter was standing in front of him before growing hard. "There will be a solar eclipse tomorrow. He plans on harnessing it for his scheme."

"An eclipse?" Ed asked. "So that's his plan..."

"Listen, Edelle, he has to be stopped at all costs," Hohenheim said. "I need you to help me."

"Help you?" Ed asked. "Now look here, I'm gonna stop that bearded bastard, but I'm not doing it because you want me to help you! Our best chance to beat this guy is teaming up and that's the only reason I'm even talking to you right now!" She turned with the others and began to walk away.

"That's fine with me," she heard Hohenheim speak behind her. "It doesn't matter what your reasons are, as long as you'll still fight alongside me."

Suddenly, Ed stopped in her tracks. The message...

"Granny asked me...to give you mom's final words," Ed said. "'Sorry I couldn't keep my promise, but I'm dying first'. So there!" She whipped around. "I told you-!" Ed stopped suddenly. Her father was standing before her with tears running down his face at this message. She was frozen in shock.

She finally found the motivation to walk away. Walk away from him and the past that stood with him.

Ed found herself with some dinner along with Darius and Heinkel.

"You know, Ed, don't you think you should try to be a little nicer to your old man?" Heinkel asked.

"Yeah," Darius agreed. "You could at least call him 'dad'."

'It sounds like you've had a rocky past with him, but he doesn't strike me as the type who'd abandon his wife, ya know?" Heinkel commented.

"The guy must've had his reasons," Darius added. "Why don't you give him a chance to explain?

"SHUT UP!" Ed exclaimed. "Did you ever think I've got my reasons?!"

"Oh, yeah, let's hear 'em then," Heinkel said.

"You're just stubbornly holding a grudge," Darius said.

"Such a whirlwind of emotions," Greed commented as he approached them. "I can see why. The guy's a walking talking Philosophers stone. And to make it worse, he also happens to be your father."

"There's more to it than that," Ed said. "It's just...he's not what I was expecting."

* * *

"Excuse me," Ed spoke to a woman at a fabric shop. "Can I get a roll of red fabric, please?"

"Here you go," the woman said as she handed it over."

"Thank you, ma'am," Ed thanked. She laid out some change to the woman before taking the fabric over to a barrel, resting it down.

"And what exactly is that for?" Greed asked. Ed didn't answer, clapping her hands and transmuting the fabric into her old red coat that she wore before Briggs.

"Whoa," Darius commented.

"Come on, what's wrong with what you're wearing now?" Heinkel asked.

"That doesn't seem flashy do you?" Greed asked.

"There's a good chance this is gonna be the last battle we ever fight. I wanna do it in style."

 _She wanted to go down in style._

* * *

 **So, I'm gonna tell you the reason why Ed is still working with Greed after what had happened. The reason behind it is that Ed understands that they need Greed for the Promised day, and so is willing to work alongside him until that day happens. Since (spoiler alert) Greed dies during the Promised day anyway with Father taking his stone, it works into the story well.**

 **And onto reviews.**

 **Lily (Anon): "Yay! You updated again! has Roy figured out about Ed yet? Since he heard Bradley call her edelle"**

 **Great question. Roy actually hasn't figured it out yet. I'm not trying to make everyone think Roy is that dumb or saying he is dumb, but that's just not the first thing you would think of in a situation like that. Thinking of it from Roy's perspective, he's known Ed since she was eleven/twelve years old, so he has no doubts of Ed's gender. Of course, he's wrong about it, but it's not the first thing he's thinking about. He sure does know Ed's hiding something, though.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Another quick update, but I was really anxious to get this up here since it's the last chapter that's in the manga.**

* * *

 **Chapter Fourteen**

"Alphonse! Alphonse!" the familiar voice of Mei called out. That's what Ed woke to. There had been some kind of explosion that knocked her out momentarily. She was still trying to regain the memory of what was happening.

That's right; they were on the battlefield with that 'Father' guy. She had nearly forgotten.

Ed allowed her eyes to slip open and she looked over to her automail. It was severely damaged, but still functional. Not for long, though. She caught a glimpse of Izumi laying on the ground battered and bloody.

"Teacher!" Ed exclaimed suddenly, running to Izumi. "Teacher! Say something!"

"I'm alive..." Izumi managed out. "Because of Mr. Hohenheim...He got to me at the last second." Ed looked over to see her father standing tall with his arms wide in a shielding stance, preventing further damage from coming to Izumi, unmoving.

"Hohenheim!" Ed exclaimed. "Hey! Snap out of it! Let's..." She stopped in her tracks when she saw Father standing behind him. Taller than before. Stronger than before. He no longer needed any container. He had a body of his own with more power than ever before. He lifted his arm, holding it tall in the air before slamming into Hohenheim and knocking the man the opposite direction.

"Hohenheim!" Ed shouted out.

"You're first," Father said, holding his hand up and performing a type alchemy that proceeded to choke Izumi and Ed, depriving them of their precious oxygen.

"Stop it!" Hohenheim shouted. "Leave them alone!"

Suddenly Father was knocked down with a gunshot, allowing Ed and Izumi to catch their breath once more.

"Teacher!" Ed exclaimed as she stood, quickly helping Izumi out of the crossfire. As she ran her out, another soldier had come and collected Hohenheim, running him away as well before a grenade was thrown at Father. Ed could feel it on the back of her and it pushed her off her feet slightly.

"Hey, Fullmetal!" the other soldier called out. "Are you okay?"

"It's bad!" Ed responded. "He didn't even flinch!"

"Seriously?!" the other soldier asked, turning back to catch a glance at Father, still standing tall.

After they had recovered from the close encounter with Father, they began revving it up full throttle. They each attacked him with speed, giving him hardly any chance to recover between blows. However, Father had a barrier up that was preventing him from receiving any injury.

As they were attacking him head on, Father emitted a transmutation of red light that proceeded to blow everyone away from him.

When the smoke had cleared, Father stood from the ground, where he had been knocked down in his explosion. He looked around, muttering, "The stone...the stone...Philosopher's stone..." His eyes locked onto Edward, who had been pinned down to a piece of debris. Her left arm had been pinned, a piece of metal sticking through her arm and into the cement she was pinned to. Her automail was destroyed in the explosion, leaving her defenseless. Father began to walk toward her.

"Edelle!" Hohenheim shouted. "Get out! Now!" Ed tried to pull herself away from the debris, but she found herself helplessly stuck to it. She was unable to move. She couldn't get out of the way and escape. This was it.

"Brother!" Al shouted. "Get out of there! Brother!"

Ed continued to try and pull herself away from the debris but only blood followed from her arm, which was only being contained as it was because of the debris holding it into her.

"Stop!" Alphonse shouted. "Dammit, Stop! Stop this! Stop it!" Al tried helplessly to pull himself toward his sister with no avail. His armor was nearly completely destroyed, leaving him defenseless as well. "My brother...My sister...Let her-!" He stopped himself short.

"The stone..." Father called out. "You vile human...give it to me!"

"No, Edelle!" Hohenheim shouted.

"Your energy!" Father exclaimed.

Suddenly Mei's battle rings (totally googled that shit) were thrown onto the cemented debris that Ed was pinned to. Exactly where her right arm would have been. Ed snapped over to where Al was laying. He was holding his hands up in preparation for a transmutation.

"What are you doing...?" Ed asked, mostly to himself. "Al...don't... please...Al! Al!" Ed's voice grew louder and more desperate as she called for her brother. She couldn't lose him. Not now. "AL, NO!"

Before she knew it, Alphonse was gone. Lost to the gate. Ed hardly had the time to process that her younger brother, who she had sacrificed so much for, was gone before an arm appeared where before, there had been none. An arm that she hadn't had since she was ten years old was suddenly reattached to her body.

In a fluid movement, Ed transmuted the ground below her into spikes that came from the ground and shot out at Father. She ripped the debris that had been pinning her to the cement from her arm, clapping her hands and performing another transmutation. She couldn't stop herself from feeling a rage as she attacked this man. This _thing_. He had taken her brother from her. The only family she had left was now gone because of _this thing_.

Ed could barely register the cheering that was going on for her by the others.

"Go, kid!" Zampano cheered.

"Elric!" Darius called out.

"Kick is ass, Ed!" Riza shouted.

"Go, Ed!" Izumi exclaimed.

"FIGHT, EDWARD ELRIC!" There was no doubting that was Armstrong. The Major, not the General.

"Please don't die," Mei prayed.

"GO, EDWARD!" Hohenheim called out.

"Don't die," Lan Fan said.

"Fullmetal!" Roy called out.

Ed continued to pummel the Homunculus, not giving him any time to recover. And this time, his defenses were low. His shield was down. All he could do was regenerate his body as it was damaged, and he hardly had time to do that.

Ed knocked him to the ground before shouting, "Get up, you novice! I'm about to show you how outclassed you really are. This fight, you lose!"

* * *

Greed. He had been taken by Father. His Philosopher stone used to fuel the rage and power of the Homunculus. Ed and Ling watched on as Greed disappeared into nothing. Father had grown more powerful in taking him, but after he had taken him, he was vulnerable. Wasn't that something Greed had said before?

Greed was gone and Ed couldn't help but feel a rage run through her. She delivered a final blow to Father's vulnerable form. She actually rammed her arm through Father's torso. He stopped moving, and as Ed removed her hand from inside of Father, he fell to the ground. Moments later, Father began to emit souls from his own body from his collapsed state. Father pulled himself up to a standing position, though his torso where Ed had shoved her arm was still gaping open.

"My stone..." Father trailed off. "You destroyed my stone..." Tentacles, not unlike the ones that had taken Ed and Alphonse to the gate those years ago, began to emit from Father's wound. "What...This can't...What is this?!"

As the arms began to encircle the Homunculus and grab hold of him, Ed said, "Go back to where you were born..." She breathed out and glared the Homunculus. "Go back to nothing, Homunculus!"

"But why?!" Father asked as he was pulled to the ground by the tentacles. "I just wanted to understand this world's knowledge! I wanted to experience it!" Father struggled against the arms pulling him. "Free! I just wanted to be free!" He was then pulled by the arms and crushed before disappearing completely.

Ed immediately turned to the armored body that used to be her brother, charging toward it. She collapsed on her knees beside the armor.

"I'm sorry..." Mei apologized. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's not your fault, Mei," Ed said quietly. "It was Al's decision."

"Ed, I've got the toll for him" Ling said suddenly, causing Ed to snap her head toward the Xingese prince. Ling held up a small vile with red water. "It's a Philosophers stone. Use it to bring him back."

"I can't," Ed whispered quietly, punching the ground as she said so. "As much as I want to, I can't. I promised Al we'd never use a Philosophers stone." Ed stared at the ground as she continued to think of something. There had to be a way to get him back! There was a way to get her arm back, and Alphonse had gotten it. But Ed couldn't return the corpse of what they had revived that night all those years ago to get Alphonse back. It would take too long; they needed to get him back now.

"Edelle," Hohenheim spoke suddenly. Ed looked in his direction. "Use my life for the toll. Use me to save Alphonse." Ed stared at her father, her mouth opening slightly in a gasp. "I've got just enough life left."

"No way!" Ed exclaimed. "I would never do that, you dumbass! This doesn't have anything to do with you! It's our own damn fault. I won't use another human life to get Al back and I don't care who it is! Why should you sacrifice your life for our mistake?!"

"Because I'm his father," Hohenheim said. "And that's the only thing that matters. You don't know how much you two mean to me and I just want you to be happy. And I do bear some responsibility for this. This might not have happened if I'd just been there for you. I'm sorry, Ed. I've lived long enough. Just give me this chance to act like a father for once in my life."

"Shut up!" Ed shouted out. No matter how she felt about her father, she couldn't let him do something like this. A life is a life no matter what. "You rotten father. You say something that dumb again and I'll knock you out!" Ed felt the tears running down her face as she stared out at her father. It was embarrassing to cry in front of all these people, but she couldn't let Hohenheim sacrifice himself.

"I'm sorry," Hohenheim apologized. "Forgive me."

Ed rubbed the tears away from her eyes, staring down at her hands in trying to find a solution. Al had gotten her arm back. She needed to do the same for him. She could always sacrifice another arm, but would the truth truly take that?

"Alphonse..." Mei cried out. "Oh, Al...poor Alphonse..."

"Mei," Ed said suddenly, hatching an idea. "Stand back a little," she said gently. Mei did as she said and Ed weakly pulled herself to a standing position. She grabbed a metal rod from the ground, using it to scrape the pavement to a circle of her will.

"That's..." Ling trailed off. "A human transmutation circle!"

"I'll be back in a few minutes," Ed said after she had finished the circle. She cast the rod aside easily. "This is my last transmutation. Stand back and enjoy the show!" She held clapped her hands in the beginning of a transmutation and pressed her hands to the circle.

"Stop, Ed!" Ling shouted out.

"Elric!" Darius and Zampano called out.

"No, Edward Elric!" Armstrong shouted.

* * *

"You finally called me Ed," Ed commented as she sat with her father. Alphonse was being cared for by several doctors. Her wounds had already been taken care of and a doctor had looked at her new arm. It was weaker than the other with less muscle and there were bits of her port still underneath her new skin. She had been informed she would need surgery to remove it.

"I did," Hohenheim said.

"And you called me Edward for a minute there too," Ed added. "I didn't think you'd actually come around to that. Any of it, really."

"A parent always wants to call their child by the name they've given them," Hohenheim said. "Or at least that's my experience of it.

"Mom called me Ed," Ed commented.

"Your mother was a saint." Hohenheim sighed. "It just took me a while to get used to. My daughter running around calling herself by a man's name. Though, I have to say, it was a fine name you chose."

"Not like I'm gonna go running around with the name Edwin or something stupid like that," Ed said. "Thank you."

"For?"

"Coming around," Ed said. "I can't forget what you did. I can't forget that you left mom and us when we needed you. But...I can't forget that in the very end, you were willing to sacrifice yourself for Al."

"You're my children," Hohenheim said. "Of course I would sacrifice my very being very you."

"Well, thanks."

* * *

 **And we are officially out of the manga! Time to have some fun with the sandbox of Fullmetal Alchemist.**

 **Lily (Anon): "So did greed actually do something to ed or did he stop when she asked? Also thank you for another update :)"**

 **So, I left that scene more of an implied scene on purpose to allow people to come to the conclusion as to what happened, but it is implied that Greed did not stop when Ed asked. The reason I didn't include everything was more so everyone could think of what happened as far as Ed struggling. Did Ed struggle? Did she submit? That's all up to the reader. Personally, I would think she would struggle over something like that, but like I said, it's up to the reader.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

"So..." Mustang said as he sat down in front of Ed. They had planned to meet up for lunch for some time now. Alphonse was still in the hospital from the Promised day with an NG tube* to support his malnourished body. Mustang had been trying to get Ed out of the hospital for some time to no avail. Finally, she had agreed. "When were you going to tell me that you were actually a girl? And _why_ did you pretend to be a boy this entire time?"

"I wasn't, actually," Ed responded. Mustang's sight had thankfully been returned to him with the help of Dr. Marcoh. Even Havoc's walking had been restored, and the man was back in the military again. With practically everyone knowing about her gender, Ed stopped going to so many lengths to hide her true identity. She didn't bother with wrapping her chest in ace bandages anymore or wearing incredibly baggy clothing. It was obvious now that she was a girl. "As for my lying…I don't really know. It just felt like a good idea. I always told myself it was so I would get the respect of a man in the military, but I've had so many strong women in my life that I don't really think I can use that as a reason."

"Well, I understand wanting respect," Mustang said. All he wanted was power from the military and the respect that came with authority over someone when he was younger. Well, that's what he wanted after the war. Beforehand, he thought he was truly going to help change the world. "Edelle Elric..." Mustang commented, remembering the name from when Bradley had referred to Ed as such. "It's not such a bad name. You don't prefer it?"

"No," Ed responded. "I like Ed. My dad always called me Edelle. I chose to be called Ed a long time before even bothering to join the military."

"Where _is_ your father?" Mustang asked.

"I don't really know," Ed answered. "He kind of disappeared after Al went to the hospital. I should have expected it. Disappearing is what he does best."

"But he accepted you toward the end," Mustang added. "He called you Edward during your fight with that Homunculus."

"That he did," Ed responded. "Anyway, what did you want to come talk to me about?"

"I just wanted to check up on you," Mustang said. "Make sure you were taking care of yourself. Alphonse needs you to be healthy too."

"I'm healthy," Ed said. "I'm healthy as can be. Never felt better."

"You just look like you've lost a little weight," Mustang commented. "Riza was hounding me on getting some food into you."

"Haven't had much of an appetite lately," Ed reasoned. "I mean, with the hospital food I've been around constantly, I haven't been very hungry."

"Alphonse has been in the hospital for a few days now," Mustang said. "You've been losing weight for some time, Edward."

"Points for not calling me Edelle now that you now," Ed said with a laugh. "But seriously, I'm fine."

"Fine," Mustang said with a sigh. "At least let me treat you today. Then you can go back to running yourself ragged with worry over Alphonse."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Ed said. She lifted a menu and looked through it. She still didn't have much of an appetite. To tell the truth, she had been feeling a bit sick for the past week. She hadn't been able to address it, though, with everything that had been going on. She was busy with the Promised day.

The waitress appeared pretty quickly to take their orders when she saw the military uniform Roy was wearing.

"What sounds good?" Mustang asked as she saw Ed struggling with the menu. It wasn't like her to ever deny food. Even when she was at the young age of twelve, her stomach had been known as the black hole of the dining hall at the Command Center.

"I don't know..." Ed trailed off. "I'll just eat a BLT or something."

"I'll have the same," Mustang told the waitress, who took down their orders and their menus before walking off. "Are you all right?" Mustang asked as he saw Ed appearing slightly pale.

"Huh?" Ed asked after zoning out for a moment. "I'm fine." She told herself that mostly. She must be coming down with a flu or something. _Probably shouldn't be around Al with his weak immune system..._ she thought to herself.

Ed sat mostly in silence while waiting for the food, and Mustang didn't bother her. He could tell she was thinking deeply and she needed some time to think for the time being. She had been running herself ragged with Alphonse ever since he had been restored.

Their food returned to them sooner than Mustang thought and he waited for Ed to begin eating before he did. When she took her first bite, he was about to take his when Ed bolted from her chair and headed outside the restaurant.

"Ed?!" Mustang called out with no answer. He threw some money down onto the table, not caring about anything else but getting to his subordinate. He ran outside the restaurant in Ed's trail only to find the girl vomiting on the concrete outside. "Oh, Ed, you're sick."

"Shut up," Ed groaned out as she wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "It was just the food. It was gross."

"Ed, I've eaten at this place before," Mustang said. "And you have too. The whole team ate here when we worked late, remember?"

"Must've changed," Ed said. "Look, I need to get back to the hospital with Al. He's probably gonna wake up soon and there's no one there with him."

"At least let me walk you?" Mustang suggested.

Ed shook her head quickly. "No thanks, I got this." She turned before he could argue any further and began to walk in the direction of the hospital.

When she reached the hospital, Ed was about to walk into Alphonse's room when a nurse stopped her.

"Miss Elric," the woman called out. Ed stopped. People had been referring to her by feminine pronouns lately and Ed didn't care all that much anymore. They had been doing it ever since Ling found out anyway.

"Yes?" Ed asked, turning toward the woman.

"I have the results of your blood test back," the nurse said. "Would you please follow me?" Ed nodded and followed the woman to an examination room. She had blood tests done when she had her wounds taken care of. The doctors needed to know any background information before they performed a surgery on her. She had been waiting on the results before they could start the preparations for it.

"Well, Edward, I believe some congratulations is in order," the nurse said with a happy smile. "You're pregnant!"

"What?" Ed asked. "No, that's impossible. I'm a-" Ed stopped short. But she wasn't a virgin. It had been only a few weeks ago when Greed had her in the empty patients' cottage in Resembool. "Oh my god..."

"You're about three weeks along," the nurse said, though she caught on that this was very unplanned. "It's still early, so we have plenty of time to go through your options."

"I have to go!" Ed exclaimed, jumping from the examination table and out of the door. She didn't even go to Alphonse's room, she just left the hospital.

What was she going to do?

* * *

 ***For those of you who don't know what an NG tube is, it's just a feeding tube that goes through your nose into your stomach. There are other types of feeding tubes that go through your stomach, but surgery is required to put it in and I figured Al wouldn't be healthy enough for such a surgery. So, he's got an NG tube, which is simpler. He can still eat foods, but the NG tube is just to get him healthy enough to leave the hospital.**

 **Also, I've gotten a lot of hate for putting up that implied rape scene back in chapter twelve. Let me explain now that this chapter is up. The entire manga was resolved in the last chapter, after the Promised day when Ed and Al returned to Resembool. Well, I can't just stop it there, otherwise I would have ripped off the entire ending of the manga without doing anything of my own. My entire goal was just to get to this point and work my way further. The rape scene was only put here so that Ed could get pregnant. She needed to get pregnant so that I could work from there and make a new story. That's it. Right there. Boom. Done. I'm losing readers because they hated the rape scene, and I get it; I understand. Though, I've had people send me hate and get really angry because of it. I think everyone assumes this is going to end like the original because of that, but I'm taking a different direction now. Anyway, good luck and good day.**

 **Also, I wrote the nausea scene with my entire feelings because I was nauseous the entire week I was writing this. I'm still nauseous. Pushing on two weeks now.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Guess I lost everyone pretty quick after the rape scene. Anyway, I'm still posting.**

* * *

 **Chapter Sixteen**

Havoc walked out of the Central command center for his regular smoke break when he saw Ed standing there. She was leaning against a wall with a cigarette in her hand. She brought it up to her mouth and took a puff before breathing out the smoke with expertise.

"Chief?" Havoc asked as he walked closer to Ed. He brought out his own pack of cigarettes and took one for his smoke break. He only had so long to do it before Mustang would be out on his ass. Or send Hawkeye. "You smoking now?"

"Nope," Ed said. "Just pregnant." She had told Hawkeye that she was a girl when she was getting her wounds treated after the Promised day. She kind of figured Hawkeye would respond with how she knew the entire time. Ed asked Hawkeye to tell the others so she wouldn't have to see the looks on their face, and the Lieutenant obliged.

"Seriously?" Havoc asked. "Wow...I mean...Aren't you supposed to _not_ smoke when pregnant?"

"It's calming me down," Ed said. "If I'm not smoking, I'm gonna freak out."

"Well, who's the father?" Havoc asked. He couldn't see Ed with another guy, honestly. Though, maybe that was just because Ed had been going under the persona of a boy for so long.

"A Homunculus," Ed answered. "That Xingese prince that I was with...when he was under the control of that Homunculus, Greed, he...I told him no."

"Wait, are you saying that he _raped_ you?" Havoc asked.

"I don't know," Ed whined out. "I don't think I'm gonna have it."

"The baby?" Ed nodded.

"I'm seventeen," Ed said. "I _just_ restored Al. I want to live my life and travel right now. Al and I have been talking about traveling the east and the west for more information and even starting up our own form of alchemy."

"You don't have to justify it," Havoc said. "You have the right to do whatever you want with your own body. But you should probably tell the father."

"Greed's gone," Ed said. "He was destroyed on the Promised day. Now Ling has his own body back and he left for Xing to take his place as Emperor. It's not even really his kid."

"Well, it's his DNA," Havoc said. "Even if Greed was using his body, that body still belonged to Ling. That's Ling's baby."

"I can't," Ed said. "I'd have to send a letter that would take too long to get there. By the time he would even get the letter and respond it would be too late."

"You do whatever you think is right, Ed," Havoc said. "But I really think you should tell him."

"I'll think about it," Ed said before taking another drag of her cigarette. She put it out on her boot and dropped it onto the ground. "Thanks for talking me through this. I gotta get back to the hospital for Al."

"Well, if ya need anyone to be there when you...take care of it..." Havoc trailed off. "Hit me up."

"Sure thing," Ed said before walking away from him.

* * *

Ed sat down by Al's hospital bed. She had been leaving Al's room every two hours to vomit, but at least now she knew it wasn't contagious to Alphonse.

"Sister..." Al trailed off as he watched Ed sit beside him once again. He had taken to referring to his sister as such now because everyone knew anyway. Thankfully she wasn't getting reprimanded by the military because Bradley knew the entire time anyway.

"Yeah, Al?" Ed asked. "Are you feeling all right? Do you want me to ask the nurse to get you another pillow?" Al had been complaining of pain lately because he had no fat on his body to protect his bones.

"I'm worried about you," Al said. "You smell like smoke and you've been feeling sick. I can tell. And you look pale."

"I'm managing it," Ed responded. "And it's nothing contagious, so you don't have to worry."

"I'm not worried about me," Al said with a sigh. "I'm worried about _you_. You look like you've lost weight and you're feeling sick."

"Don't worry about it," Ed said. "I'll be better in a week. I promise."

"What does that mean?" Al asked.

"Al..." Ed trailed off. She was having a hard time keeping this secret from her brother. They always shared everything. "The nurse said I'm sick. But...I made an appointment for me to get better. It's next week."

"What are you sick with?" Al asked. What could possibly be so serious that his sister would keep it from him?

"Just some girl stuff..." Ed said, her voice cracking slightly. She needed to keep herself together. "It's really nothing for you to worry about or anything."

"I can bug you all day about this until you tell me," Al said. "And I will."

Ed sighed, not sure if she could regret what she was about to say. "I'm pregnant and I'm not having it."

Al paused. What? He never even thought of his sister with a man to get pregnant. What had happened when they were separated?

"What?" Al asked.

"I'm pregnant," Ed repeated. "The nurse said I'm about three weeks along. I can't really get the surgery to get the port out of my arm unless I'm not pregnant, so I'm not having it."

"Who..." Al trailed off. He was so shocked he could barely get his words out. "Who's the father?"

"Greed," Ed answered. If she could tell Havoc that, she could tell Alphonse. The only reason she didn't want to tell Al about it in the first place was because she didn't want him to worry.

"The Homunculus?" Al asked.

Ed nodded. "He was taking over Ling's body when it happened. I didn't think I could even get pregnant."

"Sister, that's just silly," Al said. "Of course you can get pregnant. You're a grown woman." Though, Al couldn't think of it either.

"Well, I didn't think I would," Ed said. "But...I made an appointment to take care of it...at a clinic."

"Are you sure?" Al asked. Ed nodded. "Have you told Ling?"

"Why does everyone want me to tell Ling?" Ed asked. He wasn't the father! Greed was! And Greed was gone.

"Because even if Greed was taking over Ling's body, it's still Ling's DNA in there," Al said. "You should tell him. Even if you don't let him have any room in the decision making, you should tell him."

"So I can tell him and still have an abortion anyway?" Ed asked.

Al nodded. "It's your decision, sister. It's your body."

"Oh..." Ed trailed off. She just _assumed_ that if she told Ling she would have to keep it. She didn't want it. It was made of a night of horrible feelings for her. She had been angry at Winry and hadn't even wanted to have sex with Greed. It made the night feel awful and the pregnancy gave her awful feelings. "I'll send him a letter."

"Not in person?" Al asked.

"What do you want me to do?" Ed asked. "I can't just hike through the desert. Crossing the desert with automail sounds _hot_."

"Well, maybe after you recover from your surgery you can do it," Al suggested.

"I'm not leaving you to go to Xing when you're still recovering," Ed said. "I'll send him a letter. It'll be too late for him to do anything whether it's a letter or in person, anyway."

"All right, sister," Al said. "I'm gonna take a nap now. You should get some rest too."

"Sure thing." Ed nodded. She wouldn't, but she would watch over her little brother for the time being.

* * *

"Is today the day of the appointment?" Alphonse asked as he watched his sister stand in front of a mirror squeezing her breasts over and over again. It was...odd.

"Yeah," Ed answered as she continued to squeeze and unsqueeze. "I'm getting ready to go now."

" _What_ are you doing?" Alphonse asked.

"My tits are swollen," Ed answered. "They hurt. My bra doesn't even fit anymore."

"Well, after today it'll all be over," Al said.

"Actually, no," Ed said. "I talked to the lady on the phone to make the appointment and she said this was just a consult."

"Huh?" Al asked.

"Basically they're gonna confirm that I'm knocked up, look at the thing, and then make a whole other appointment to get rid of it," Ed explained.

"Do you know when that'll be?"

"Nope," Ed said. "But I'll let you know when they make the appointment. It should be soon. Wouldn't wanna wait too long to get rid of it. I heard the longer you wait the worse off the recovery is."

"Recovery?" Al asked. He didn't want his sister to be hurting because of it, but he also wasn't sure about her having a baby. He knew she was making the right decision for her.

Ed nodded. "It shouldn't be that bad." She rubbed Al's hair. "Try to eat your lunch while I'm gone, okay?"

"All right," Al said. "But you try to eat lunch too."

"I'm gonna head to the Command Center after," Ed said. "Fuery's gonna stop by and eat lunch with you." With that, Ed headed out the door to the appointment.

After everything had been checked out and it was confirmed that Ed was indeed expecting, the nurse looked through the calendar to make an appointment.

"We have something for you next week," the nurse said.

"Next _week_?" Ed asked. "By then I'll be five weeks."

"Look, we don't allow appointments to be before a week after the consult," the nurse explained. "I'm sorry, but it's really not our rule. It's Central city's rule."

"Seriously?" Ed asked with a groan. "Fine, make it next week."

She grumbled as she left the clinic, but perked up when she saw the Command Center. While Resembool was her home, Central Command felt like it too. She had grown up there and Mustang's team really felt like her family by now.

"Ed!" Havoc cheered out when Ed walked through the door. "How're you feeling?"

"I'm good," Ed said. "Kinda hungry, though."

"Well, we're just about to go out to lunch," Breda said. "We were planning on taking our lunch break when you come, so let's get out of here."

"Edward," Riza said suddenly, and Ed snapped to the woman. "You look...different."

"Oh?" Ed asked. Could Riza see through her? She had only told Alphonse and Havoc that she was pregnant. Had Havoc spilled?

"You're...glowing..." Riza said in an unsure tone.

"Oh," Ed said. "Thanks. Let's get our grub on now." The others walked out hastily, but Ed pulled Havoc back for a minute. "You didn't tell anyone, did you?"

"No," Havoc answered. "Why?"

"It seemed like Hawkeye might know something," Ed said.

"You really can't get passed the Hawks eye," Havoc said with a shrug. "I thought your appointment was today."

"It was just a consult," Ed answered. "The real deal is next week. Let's meet up with the others before they get suspicious and think I'm macking on you or something."

'That's gross," Havoc said, but he grinned and laughed a little when Ed had said it. The two made haste in catching up with the others.

"The black hold is in action once again," Breda commented when he saw Ed devour a dozen donuts in one sitting. "We were all getting worried there. The Colonel and First Lieutenant said that you'd lost weight recently."

"Just stress," Ed said, though she had read through pamphlets at the hospital when Al was resting that said women often lost weight in the beginning of their pregnancy due to morning sickness. "But I'm fucking _starving_ now."

"Glad to see you're feeling better, Fullmetal," Mustang said. "The Lieutenant and I were worried you would continue to lose weight with Alphonse in the hospital."

"He's getting out soon," Ed said. "Fuery's with him now and the doctors are trying to wean him off of his NG tube. Once he's off, he'll be allowed to come home."

"Where are you planning on taking him?" Havoc asked. It was no secret that the Elrics didn't really have a home. Ever since Ed was fourteen she didn't like staying in the military dorms. She would always be placed with the men and she found it uncomfortable to stay there for more than a few days. They often had hotels.

"I was thinking about renting out an apartment until he's healthy enough to travel," Ed said. "Something close to the hospital in case something happens."

"That's a good idea," Hawkeye said. "The Colonel can you help you look for something. He lives nearby the hospital."

"Yeah, I'll help you," Mustang agreed.

"Sure," Ed said. She suddenly felt a twinge in her bladder and stood. "Be back, gotta take a leak." She swore she was peeing every five minutes lately. She couldn't wait to get this thing taken care of.

"Even though Ed admitted she's a girl, she still talks like a damn guy," Havoc commented with a laugh. It was true, but that's just how Ed always was. The team didn't expect her to change.

"Havoc," Riza spoke suddenly. "May I speak with you in private?"

"Uh..." Havoc trailed off. "Sure." The two stood from the table and walking away, leaving the table in silence as they wondered what the soldiers were talking about.

"You know what's going on with Ed, don't you?" Hawkeye asked. Havoc nodded. "Is she pregnant?" Riza was a woman and knew the signs.

"Ed doesn't want anyone to know," Havoc said. "But yeah. She's not having it."

"Really?" Hawkeye asked with her eyebrows raised. She hadn't expected Ed to come to such a decision. Though, maybe she did. "When is she planning on that?"

"She said something about next week," Havoc said. "Don't tell anyone. She trusted me with the information and I really wasn't supposed to tell anyone."

"Don't worry," Hawkeye said. "You have my trust." The two returned to the table, and no one dared ask what they had spoken about. After a moment, Ed returned as well.

"Are you all right?" Mustang asked the teenager, who returned looking sickly.

"I'm fine," Ed snapped suddenly. The team was confused. Well, everyone but Havoc and Hawkeye. They could see mood swings for what they really were. Ed had always been moody, but in a surly teenage sort of way. Not like this.

"Ed," Riza said suddenly, yet softly. "Come with me for a minute." Breda, Falman, and Mustang watched on as Hawkeye and Ed left the table. They were just as confused with Ed being taken to talk with Hawkeye as when she had spoken with Havoc. Were they next or something?

"I know about your situation," Hawkeye said.

"Damn that Havoc," Ed growled out, though Hawkeye stopped her.

"Hold it," Riza silenced Ed. "I guessed and Havoc confirmed. Any woman from a mile away can see what's going on with you, Ed."

"Really?" Ed asked. Hawkeye nodded.

"Are you taking care of yourself?" Hawkeye asked.

"Does it matter? I mean, if you guessed, Havoc must have told you I'm not keeping it," Ed explained.

"I didn't ask if you were taking care of the clump of cells," Hawkeye said. "I asked if you were taking care of _yourself_. I know you have a lot of stress in your life and I don't want you to wear yourself out."

"I'll be fine," Ed said with a sigh. "My appointment is next week and after that I can focus on Al and me. I need to look for apartments and stuff too. We might just get a hotel until I can find an apartment."

"You know that if you ever need help, you can rely on me," Hawkeye said. "This whole team thinks of you as our family. We don't want you to burn yourself out right now."

"I know," Ed said. "Havoc already asked if I needed him to come to my appointment and stuff. I know how you guys feel."

"Is he going?" Hawkeye asked. Ed shook her head. "Is anyone?" Another shake. "Ed... You shouldn't go through this alone."

"Would you...?" Ed asked. "I mean, if you're not busy and you don't think it's weird or anything. I know Havoc already offered, but I'd feel better with a girl there, ya know?"

"I'll go with you," Hawkeye said. "I'll even come and get you from the hospital. I have a car and I'll drive you. After the procedure, you'll want to get a lot of rest. Don't push yourself back into stress. You could get sick."

"You know a lot about this stuff," Ed commented.

"I have experience with it," Hawkeye responded. "So listen to me when I give you advice about this, all right?"

"All right," Ed said with a slight smile. It felt good to have a feminine support system. Maybe she should have called Winry. Ed gave the details of the appointment before heading toward the door of the mess hall.

"I've got to get out of here, but I'll see you then?" Ed asked.

"I'll be there," Hawkeye said. "And remember what I said about not getting stressed out. Stop smoking."

"You knew about that?" Ed asked. Hawkeye nodded. "All right, I'll stop. See ya!" she headed out with a sudden burst of energy.


	17. Chapter 17

**I'm officially finished writing this. Twenty-seven total chapters.**

* * *

 **Chapter Seventeen**

Ed stared at herself in the mirror. Mostly at her stomach. Was it growing? Was she just crazy?

"Sister..." Al trailed off. "Are you having second thoughts?"

"No," Ed answered hastily. "I'm _not_ having second thoughts. Just...My stomach feels bloated is all. Like I ate twelve donuts."

"Well, you did that this morning, but you threw it up pretty quickly," Al mentioned.

"Yeah, I can't wait to get this thing out of me," Ed said. "Then I can eat normally again. And be a normal person."

"I just don't want you to regret your decision," Al said. "Do what you want, I want you to be happy. Just be sure of it."

"The clinic gave me plenty of time to decide it," Ed responded. "Making me make an appointment a week after I find out for a consult just to make me wait a week to have the actually procedure. Fuckheads."

"Maybe they just want you to be sure too," Al suggested.

"If Mustang becomes Furher, I'm making him abolish that law," Ed said. There was a knock on the door. "Come in."

Hawkeye opened the door. "Are you ready to go, Ed?" she asked. Ed nodded.

"I'll see you later, okay, Al?"

"I'll be fine, sister," Al said. "Havoc said he's coming by today."

"Okay," Ed said. "I don't know how long I'll be, but I'll call you when it's over."

"Sure thing, sister."

Ed turned and left the room with Hawkeye.

"Are you having second thoughts?" the Lieutenant asked.

Ed shook her head. "I don't want to be a mother."

"You don't have to be," Hawkeye said, wrapping an arm around Ed's shoulders.

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Alphonse asked when his sister walked into the room.

"No pregnant," Ed responded. "So, how are you? Havoc came by, right?"

"Yeah," Al answered. "He didn't even smoke when he was here."

"That's because I threatened him if he did," Ed said, sitting down beside the hospital bed. "I talked to the doctor on the way in. He said that tomorrow morning he's gonna remove your NG tube and see how you do."

"Really?" Al asked. "That's great!"

"Yeah." Ed smiled. "And I found us a hotel to stay at for a little while until I can find us an apartment. When you're ready to travel we'll go to Resembool. Jeez, I haven't even _told_ Winry the news yet."

"Are you just afraid that you'll have to give her back her earrings?" Al asked jokingly.

"Shut up!" Ed exclaimed, though reached her hands to touch the metal that still pierced her ears.

"When is your surgery?" Al asked.

"Next week," Ed answered. "I told the doctor about my abortion and he said he wanted to wait until I was completely recovered from that before going through with my surgery. He said something about a risk of infection."

"All right." Al was just glad they were finally moving on with their lives.

"But I'm gonna have someone stay with you while I'm in the hospital," Ed said. Alphonse would be home by then and Ed didn't want him to have to struggle in moving around.

"No, sister, I'm going to be with you," Al said. "I'm staying in the hospital with you until you're better."

"But you need to get better too," Ed responded. "You don't have the endurance to sleep in a hospital chair until I'm out."

"I'm staying," Al stated firmly. "There's nothing you can do about it."

Ed groaned. "Fine, but you gotta keep up with your health. You need to eat and shower."

"All right, all right."

"I don't see why you need to argue about this with me," Ed said. "I'm not having surgery for another week."

"You're the one trying to make sure I have a constant babysitter," Al said.

"It's so you won't get lonely," Ed defended. "Can we not harp on this right now? I said you could stay in the hospital with me and you can."

"All right, sister," Al said. "Can we talk about our plans to travel?"

"To Resembool?" Ed asked.

"No," Al said. "For after we return to Winry. I know you, you're not going to want to stay in one place for too long. You get stir crazy for someone who was raised in the countryside."

"You got a point." Ed sighed. "All right, let's talk."

* * *

 **I wanted to make it longer, but I didn't have anything else to add to this. The next part I wanted to write is something I wanted to be at the beginning of a chapter, so it'll be in the next chapter. See you soon!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

 _Two Years Later_

"You'd think with having automail for almost a decade you'd finally learn how to maintain it," Winry lectured as she worked on Ed's automail. Winry had been furious when Ed first arrived with poorly maintained automail. She had _warned_ Ed to take good care of it before leaving, but the young ex-alchemist would never change.

"At least I'm not coming back with it torn up, right?" Ed said in trying to defend herself. As soon as Alphonse had recovered and they stopped by to pay Winry a visit, they set out on another journey. They had separated, going on to study as much of the east and west as they could. Alphonse headed to Xing in order to study alkahestry and Ed had gone the opposite direction to study other foreign techniques. The two were planning on meeting up in Central soon.

"The only reason it's still in one piece is because you're not a State Alchemist anymore," Winry retorted. "And for that I'm glad."

"Yeah, I know." Ed smiled a bit. Winry had never been happy about Ed joining the military. The only reason she tolerated it was because she wanted Ed and Al to get their bodies back. Ed had resigned her position as a State Alchemist shortly after Alphonse had been released from the hospital. It wasn't like she could continue to serve as an Alchemist when she couldn't perform it anymore, having given it up for Alphonse's return.

"So, when are you meeting up with Alphonse?" Winry asked as she tinkered with the automail in an attempt to reverse the damage done by Ed neglecting it.

"We planned in a week," Ed said. "I can't really contact him right now, though, since he's crossing the desert."

"Why didn't you head out east instead?" Winry asked. "I thought you would want to see Ling again."

"Crossing the desert in automail?" Ed asked. "No thank you. I did it before and I'm _not_ gonna do it again," she said. "Besides, Al is _really_ into Mei. You know, the princess?"

"Oh, yeah, I remember her," Winry confirmed. "We traveled together when we were all in Briggs together."

"That's right." Ed flinched when Winry screwed something that shot a pain through her leg. "Careful there!"

"You know as well as I do that this is as careful as I can get," Winry said as she rolled her eyes.

"Winry!" a familiar voice called out. The door to the shop opened, revealing Paninya. "Oh, hey, Ed."

"Hey, Paninya," Ed said in a tight voice. They didn't have the best relationship since Paninya stole Ed's watch. Winry and her were friends, but Ed still didn't leave her stuff alone around Paninya. "Getting maintenance done?"

"Yeah," Paninya answered. "Winry looks at my leg every once in a while to check up how it's doing." Dominic, Paninya's mechanic, had been sick lately, and hadn't been able to do the maintenance on her automail properly anymore. He allowed Paninya to go to Winry for maintenance, though only because Winry was a Rockbell progeny.

"Good," Ed said. " _You_ get to be her guinea pig now." She laughed until Winry slugged her over the head. "That hurt, you monster!"

"Sit still," Winry grunted out as she worked on the last details of her maintenance. She gave it a once over to make sure she did it properly - she didn't mean to make another mistake like that again - before putting her tools away. "All right, you're all good."

"Thanks, Win," Ed thanked, standing and testing out her leg. She couldn't describe the relief she felt in just having _one_ automail limb instead of two. Ed knew she wouldn't be completely disappointed even if she hadn't had any limbs returned to her.

"Are your ears pierced?" Paninya asked as she got a closer look at Ed. "When did that happen?"

"Oh, that was a while back," Ed said. "Winry told you that I'm a girl, right?"

"What?!" Paninya asked. She honestly hadn't noticed. With Ed hiding her gender and being off traveling, it was easy to miss. And with the Fullmetal Alchemist falling out of the spotlight just before Ed had told Mustang's team she was a girl, there were some people who still didn't know. Ed had just thought Paninya wasn't one of them. "Winry, how could you not tell me?!" While Ed had begun to wear more feminine clothing, she was currently dressed in bulkier attire from her travels.

"I guess it just slipped my mind," Winry said. "I barely think about Ed being a girl, really. Ed's just...Ed."

"But you never used pronouns!" Paninya complained. "And how come you let me assume that Ed was a guy all this time!"

"Well, it was kinda a secret," Ed said. "Winry was sworn to secrecy along with our granny until the Promised day was over. Then I really didn't care because I was already resigning from the military and a bunch of people we knew already found out."

Paninya crossed her arms over his chest while mumbling something about distrustful alchemists.

"You're calling _me_ distrustful?" Ed asked, having caught a bit of what she was saying.

"Ed, don't start," Winry warned, holding up her wrench. "I need to deal with Paninya's automail and you're done. Go do some sight-seeing while you're here. Maybe pick me up a souvenir or something."

"I can't pick you up a souvenir from the place you _live_ ," Ed commented, though she left anyway. She hated sitting still for so long and had been feeling fidgety from having her automail checked up.

"Now this is more like it," Ed said to herself. Traveling when she wasn't tied to the military was ten times more relaxing. She could actually research of her own interests and spend her time how she wanted. Not that returning Alphonse's body wasn't of interest to her, but she could now go into depth in the research that didn't pertain to the Philosophers stone. It was nice.

"Ed?" a familiar voice asked from behind Ed suddenly.

She recognized that voice.

She was afraid to turn around.

"That _is_ you!" the voice continued, coming closer. There was a hand on Ed's shoulder, turning her around.

"Ling..." Ed trailed off. "I thought you were still in Xing."

"Well, I was," Ling said. "But Alphonse wanted to come here. He said he was on his way to Central and I decided to come along with him."

"I didn't know an Emperor could just drop everything like that and go on a hike through the desert," Ed commented.

"Well, I wasn't the only prince in Xing. While there's only one Emperor, there are plenty of princes that can step up if need be," Ling explained. "How have you been?"

"I've been fine," Ed said tightly. Against everyone's advice, she had never told Ling about the abortion she had. "If you came with Al, where is he?"

"Winry's shop," Ling said. The two stood in awkward silence for a long time. Longer than Ed would have liked.

"Ling..." Ed trailed off.

"Yes?"

"Did you know what was happening whenever Greed took over your body?" Ed asked quietly. Ling even paused, his eyes opening slightly. He must have.

"I was aware of what he was doing when he took control of me," Ling answered. "Did you want to talk about what happened before the Promised day?"

"I just wanted to know if you knew about it," Ed said. "I was just curious."

"Did you...enjoy what Greed did?" Ling asked.

"Of course not!" Ed exclaimed suddenly. "I didn't want that! You heard me say no!"

"All right," Ling said. "You look good, Ed. Different, but good."

"Thanks," Ed said quietly. "Can we...Can we go somewhere and talk? Not about what happened before the Promised day, but...after."

"Of course."


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

"Ling still not talking to you?" Alphonse asked his older sister as they sat down at dinner. They were at Winry's apartment in Rush Valley, eating with Winry and Paninya. Ling had eaten with them in silence, though left to wander the city as soon as he was finished. Ed was still surprised he didn't ask for seconds.

"Nope," Ed commented. After she had explained everything that had happened, Ling had grown silent. He hadn't even told Ed his opinion on the matter, but she was pretty sure at this point that he was pissed. "I'm pretty sure he's never gonna talk to me again. And you know what? I'm not really that beat up about it."

"Oh, sister, that's cold," Al commented. "You two were friends."

"What did you do to make him not want to talk about it?" Winry asked. Ed had only told a select few people that she was even pregnant, and she didn't particularly _like_ talking about the fact that she'd had an abortion. It just wasn't something that needed to be mentioned. Ed reasoned it with how she didn't really talk about her automail surgery, which was a medical procedure, so she didn't need to talk about her abortion, another medical procedure.

"I kept a secret from him," Ed said. She didn't have a problem telling Winry about it, but she wasn't very keen on Paninya knowing every detail about her life. "Something I probably shouldn't have."

" _Definitely_ shouldn't have," Alphonse interjected. "I told you to tell him, but you didn't." Ed glanced over to Paninya, hoping they weren't giving away too much information.

"I get it; this is family business." Paninya stood from the table, saying her goodbye to Winry before leaving.

"Is this really family business?" Winry asked. They had always considered her family and she did to them as well. If there was family business, she was involved.

"It's not really family business," Ed said. "It's my business. Well, mine and Ling's."

"Wait..." Winry trailed off, connecting the dots. "Are you pregnant?"

"No!" Ed exclaimed. "You think I could get knocked up with Ling's kid when he was off in Xing for two years and I was here?"

"Well, forgive me for asking!" Winry frowned. "Besides, you weren't here the entire time. You were traveling, so I don't know if you ran into him during your travels."

"I was traveling the west," Ed said. "Xing is east. _Al_ was in Xing with Mei. They saw each other."

"And I'm glad I happened not to mention it," Al said. "Considering the fact that you didn't tell him."

"Can someone please tell me what 'it' is?!" Winry exclaimed. "You both are _not_ going back to keeping secrets from me!"

"It's not really..." Al trailed off.

"I _was_ pregnant," Ed said. She didn't have a problem with Winry _knowing_ , she just didn't like to talk about it. "It was two years ago. I got pregnant a few weeks before the Promised day."

"I didn't see you for months after that," Winry said. "Al wasn't well enough to travel just yet. Did you...have it?"

"Do I _look_ like I've ever given birth before?" Ed asked with a roll of her eyes. She was still as small-waisted as ever before with her hips remaining tighter and smaller. She had definitely never bore a child to full-term. "I had an abortion, but I didn't tell Ling. It's not even really Ling's business because he wasn't really the father."

"What?" Winry asked.

"It was Greed's," Al explained. "It happened while Greed was inhabiting Ling's body. Ling wasn't in control of it."

"And Ling wasn't the father," Ed said.

"That's crazy, Ed," Winry responded. "I mean, even if it was Greed, it's still Ling's DNA. It was Ling's body, which makes it his kid."

"It's no one's kid because it was never a kid!" Ed exclaimed. "And now Ling is getting all pissy at me because I had an abortion and never told him. His opinion wouldn't have changed my mind! Could you imagine me with a two-year old on my hip right now?" Ed was sure she wouldn't have been a good mother. She was too brash and never thought things through when she should. She was hardly a good influence on her own brother, let alone a kid of her own.

"Nope," Al said.

"Uh uh," Winry agreed.

"I rest my case," Ed huffed.

"I just wish you would have told me," Ling spoke suddenly, startling the Resembool trio, who quickly turned to see him. "It would have been nice to know then instead of now."

"It wouldn't have changed anything," Ed said. "I would have had to tell you in a letter. I couldn't have left Central to hike through the desert and get to you to tell you I was having an abortion. It would have taken forever and knowing you, you'd just talk me out of it. It was Greed's and you know it."

"I know," Ling said with a sigh. "That's why I _wouldn't_ have tried to talk you out of it. You weren't the only one who was forced that night, Ed. I was forced too."

"Forced?" Winry and Alphonse asked simultaneously.

"I don't want to talk about it!" Ed exclaimed. She was still hesitant to say that she was forced into being with Greed. Either forced or coerced, she wasn't entirely sure. "I just wanted to tell you about the abortion because you're here and I thought it would be a good idea to get it out while you were around. I don't want to talk about it anymore after today, and I especially don't want to talk about Greed!"

"We won't talk about it anymore if that's what you want," Ling said. "But you and I have a lot in common when it comes to this. We're on the same side of the situation here."

"I _just_ said I don't want to talk about it," Ed repeated.

"All right." Ling sighed, though didn't mention the matter anymore.

"Um, I want to talk about it," Al interjected.

"Me too," Winry added.

"Then talk about it among yourselves," Ed said. "Talk your faces off, but do it when I'm not around." She turned and left the room without a second thought.

"Ling...tell us what happened," Al said. "I've been with you this entire time and you haven't said anything about being _forced_ into...you know..."

"I'm sorry," Ling apologized. "I can't tell you about that. I was in the same situation as Ed, but...it's just not my place to tell you everything that happened. It's hers."

Ling quietly left the room just as Ed had.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

"We never had a chance to talk," Ling began, sitting in front of Ed. She had been sitting at the table all alone in the middle of the night, just thinking. She honestly thought she wouldn't see Ling again after not seeing him for two years. When Alphonse had told her Ling was now Emporer of Xing, she thought he would be too busy to travel, and was content on avoiding the country.

"Not without Winry and Alphonse breathing down our necks," Ed said with a sigh. "So, you're not mad about the abortion?" Not that she would really care if he was. What's done was done, and she wouldn't have changed her mind if Ling had been around. Hell, she wouldn't have changed her mind if they had been _together_ when it happened. Ed was still firmly planted on the fact that she was much too young, and was too young two years ago, to have a baby. She still wasn't sure whether or not she wanted kids in the future, but now was much too soon.

"No, I'm not," Ling answered. "I was just upset that you hadn't told me. In Xing, a pregnant woman is viewed as a sacred being. Giving life from her own body is something that no one but a woman can do. But...I don't know if I would have been ready for something like that. And I know you weren't."

"You were on your way to being Emperor," Ed said. "You said earlier that you weren't the only one who was forced. I was thinking about it, and you're right. You're the only one who would understand what happened..."

The two sat in silence for a long moment, Ling even going as far as to reach out and place a hand on Ed's shoulder in a comforting manner.

"So how are things in Xing?" Ed suddenly asked, changing the subject quickly. "What's going on with you and Lan Fan? I'm surprised she didn't come with you."

"Well, she thought it might be best to stay back," Ling answered. "Well, after I convinced her to. We, uh...she's planning our wedding."

"Really?" Ed asked, the corners of her lips turning up in a smile. "I'm glad. I always knew you were pining after her. And it was obvious that she was in love with you from the moment I met her."

"It was that obvious?" Ling asked. He had thought he was at least being a _little_ subtle when it came to his feelings about Lan Fan.

"Of _course_ it was that obvious," Ed responded. "I mean, you gave her a note after Greed took over your body. No one would go through that much to tell someone they're okay unless they loved them. And Lan Fan _cried_ about it, which meant she liked you too, not to mention the fact that she was already protecting you with her own life. It was only a matter of time before you two decided to get hitched."

"Well, she's only planning the wedding," Ling said. "So what about you? Any admirers lately?"

"You know me; I don't do relationships," Ed said. "Alphonse and I are traveling the world right now and trying to learn as much as we can. There's no time for a relationship."

"I should've suspected you would close yourself off like that," Ling said. "You really are the same old Ed."

"The one and only." Ed stood from the table after a minute. "I'm gonna hit the sack. I gotta be up in the morning and I just needed to think about some stuff for a while."

"Do you regret it?" Ling asked.

"What?"

"The abortion," Ling clarified. "Do you ever regret doing it?"

Ed hesitated.

"No."

* * *

"Hey, it's Ed!" Havoc called out when the girl walked into the open office. Mustang's team had been working diligently - under the watch of Hawkeye - until she walked in and ruined their productivity.

"Hey, guys," Ed greeted. "How have you been?"

"Kind of lonely without anyone coming in here and yelling at Mustang," Breda said. "I swear, I just got used to you coming in here with your loud mouth and now you've resigned and never show up."

"So what're you here for?" Havoc asked.

"I just came to get the Colonel to give me something for access to the Central library," Ed answered. "Al and I wanna do some research, but without my title, I can't get in."

"I'm sure if you told the guards that you were the Fullmetal Alchemist, they'd let you in," Hawkeye interjected.

"Who would believe me in this get-up?" Ed asked. She had officially come out to her friends about being a woman after just before resigning from her position as a State Alchemist and began wearing more feminine looking clothing along with it. Well, she didn't actively go through the motions of hiding her gender, such as strapping down her breasts. Ed had never publicly stated as the Fullmetal Alchemist that she was a girl the entire time, and no one said anything about it to anyone else. As far as the public and majority of the military knew, Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, was and is male.

"That's true," Falman commented. "The guards at the library wouldn't believe she was the Fullmetal Alchemist unless she went through the motions of hiding her gender again."

"And I'm kinda done with that," Ed said. "I mean, I went almost my _entire_ life pretending to be a boy. I'm done for a while. I just wanna relax."

"And doing research is relaxing?" Mustang asked as he stepped in, having overheard. "I don't think I'll ever understand you, Elric."

"Maybe you're just too old to get it, Mustang," Ed responded with a smirk. "After all, you're getting on in your years. And not even a promotion yet, how sad."

"Excuse you, but I'm a General now," Mustang said. "And I'm moving forward a motion to become the new Furher. Through an election."

"An election?" Ed asked with a raised eyebrow. That wasn't how anything was done. Well, she didn't remember Furher King Bradley being appointed as the Furher, but she was pretty sure it was chosen, not elected. "That's new."

"He's trying to have an election done to make sure the Furher is someone who the public wants," Hawkeye explained. "He thinks it will help to better change the country."

"And it will," Mustang added. "As long as I can get the motion to pass. I think I will; the people of the military want a Furher they can trust just as much as civilians. Speaking of which, you _are_ a civilian now."

"Yep," Ed said. "And I need you to get me into the Central library so I can do some research."

"You and your brother searching for something new?" Mustang asked as he fished through his pocket for his pocket watch so Ed could get into the library. "I thought you two had put this kind of stuff behind you."

"We're just traveling and learning all we can about the world," Ed explained. "We need to get into the Central library to get some research materials. We're trying to decode a language."

"Which one?" Hawkeye asked curiously.

"Uh..." Ed trailed off. She didn't really know how to explain it. "It's actually ancient. From Xerxes. I don't really know what the language is called, but we're trying to figure out how to translate their work. Hohenheim would've been great help, but since he's gone, we've got to figure it out ourselves."

"That's right, your father was from Xerxes," Mustang commented. Ed had told them shortly after the Promised day when Hohenheim had disappeared. "I suppose that makes you the last of their kind." Mustang handed over the pocket watch and a small note.

"I'm Amestrian," Ed said in monotone. She took the pocket watch before mumbling a, "thanks".

"Visit more often," Havoc said before Ed left. "We never see you anymore. You're like our little bro...well, sister, I guess."

"I can be your little brother if you want," Ed said with a laugh. "See you!"

* * *

 **Guest: "Greed is my favorite character but in this he's a jerk I don't think he would actually do that because he never fights women he respects them"**

 **Okay. Sorry.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty-One**

It had been six months since Alphonse and Ling had returned to Xing. Ed had gone off on her own and continued traveling the west, though she didn't find any new information that she didn't already know. She didn't even find anything out about Xerxes, as much as she had wanted to. These were the times Ed wished that Hohenheim was around so he could talk to her about it. Seriously, an advanced civilization, way more advanced than Central at its time, that had just collapsed in one night because of a Homunculus? It was Ed's type a subject. Apparently Hohenheim's too.

Ed had eventually returned to Central and decided to stay there for the time being. She had even rented out an apartment and was actually working. Well, she was working at the library, but it was still a steady job that paid the bills. Sometimes Sheska even stopped by and they talked through their lunch breaks together. It was nice to have such a lax job like in the library.

She was currently waiting at the Central train station, waiting for Winry's train to get in. Ed didn't understand why it was so urgent for Winry to see her so quickly, but she had been called a few days ago by Winry, saying she was on her way to see her, and that Ed better have a bed ready for her. So Ed stood with her hands in her pockets in the cold weather of December and waited for Winry to arrive.

"Ed!" Winry's voice suddenly called. Ed turned and saw Winry stepping off the train with her luggage in hand. The two ran to each other and Winry engulfed Ed into a hug. "I'm so happy to see you!"

"You too," Ed responded. "So what did you want to come all the way to Central to tell me that you couldn't say on the phone?" she asked. Winry had seemed pretty rushed.

"Well, this is something that you can't really say on the phone, and I wanted you to be the first to know," Winry said. She held up her left hand to reveal a diamond ring on her finger.

"What the hell is that?!" Ed exclaimed. "Is this for real?!"

"Yes!" Winry exclaimed cheerfully. "I'm getting married."

"To who?" Ed asked. Honestly, she had never thought about Winry getting married. Well, except they totally had a little wedding when they were kids. Ed wondered why their parents were okay with two girls getting married, but even she had to admit that Trisha was an amazingly open-minded person, and Winry's parents were great too.

"Well, that's a little bit of a surprise too," Winry said. She looked behind her and Ed tried to look where her friend was looking. The two saw Alphonse farther back, waving to them.

"Hell no..." Ed trailed off. "Are you serious? You're marrying _Al_?!" As Ed asked this, Alphonse made his way to them. He had wanted his sister to be surprised about the whole thing, so he had stayed back for Winry to share the news.

"Sorry I didn't tell you before, sister," Al apologized. "Winry and I wanted you to be surprised."

"You sly dog," Ed commented. "I'm happy for you, man. But what about Mei?"

"Oh, she's a sweet girl," Al said. "But she's really young and has responsibilities as the princess of Xing."

"Al spoke to her before proposing to make sure there weren't any hard feelings," Winry added.

"But I would have proposed all the same," Alphonse commented. "You're not angry, right?"

"Are you kidding?" Ed asked. "I _just_ said I'm happy for you, and I am. Just never thought I'd be the third wheel of this trio. That was always you, Alphonse."

"Only because I'm the youngest," Al said. They always considered Alphonse the third wheel because of age. After all, Winry and Ed had only been born a year apart, so they had a year to spend together before Al came along and crashed the party. They only joked about it, though. They would never exclude Alphonse from activities because he was younger than them and never had.

"So you're not okay with marrying men who are shorter than you, but you're fine when they're two years younger than you?" Ed asked with a raised eyebrow. Years ago when they were kids, Winry had said something about not liking men who were shorter than her.

"Hey, age is just a number," Winry said.

"Unless you're marrying a twelve-year-old," Ed retorted. "Anyway, let's get you guys back to my apartment. I have a guest room, but no hanky panky, understand?"

"I never thought I'd see the day those words came out of your mouth," Al said as the three began to walk toward the exit of the train station.

"Yeah, yeah." Ed rolled her eyes. "I got someone to give us a lift so we didn't have to walk all over the city to get to the apartment with your luggage."

"That never bothered you before," Winry said, remembering the days she would have to follow the Elrics for hours as they walked through the city. Ed having her suitcase in tow, and Winry having her bag along with her.

"Well, I'm maturing," Ed said. "Or just getting old and lazy."

"Who's driving?" Al asked as they approached the car Ed led them to. They were shocked when they saw it was Mustang in the car driving. "Wow..."

"Right? He rarely drives his lazy ass," Ed said.

"I resent that comment," Mustang interjected.

"Shut up." Ed hopped into the passenger seat and Alphonse and Winry made their way to the back seat. "Apparently Al and Winry are gettin' hitched."

"Really?" Mustang asked. "Congratulations, you two," Mustang said as he began to drive toward Ed's apartment.

"Thank you, sir," Alphonse thanked, being ever so polite. "What's going on with you and Lieutenant Hawkeye?"

"Well, we've actually begun to see each other lately," Mustang said. "But we're a long way from marriage. I actually never thought I'd see the day where you Elrics would end up getting married."

"Well, all that's left is Ed," Winry said. "But I doubt she'll ever get married."

"I'm a drifter," Ed said. "No time for marriage when I got a library of research and more knowledge to get." Though she couldn't help a tint of red rise to her cheeks at the thought of someone running through her head.

"Sister, we've learned all we can about where we've visited," Al said. "We've seen the whole world by now. Well, except for Drachma. Anyway, you don't have to continue the way you are."

"I'm not doing it because I _have_ to," Ed said. "I'm doing it because I _want_ to."

Mustang pulled over to the curb when they reached Ed's apartment building. "Thanks for the ride, Musty. Let's go, guys."

The three left the vehicle and Mustang drove away before Alphonse asked, "Did you just call the General, Musty?"

"Yep," Ed said. "So I want to know how you two managed to see each other behind my back." She unlocked her apartment door before leading them in.

"Well, it was hard with Alphonse traveling for so long, but eventually he came back to Rush Valley and we spent a lot of time together," Winry explained. "We just never really mentioned it to you."

"We've only been seeing each other for about three or four months," Alphonse added.

"Three or four _months_?!" Ed exclaimed. "Don't you need a little more time before you decide on who you're going to spend the rest of your life with?!"

"Well, we've already known each other since we were kids," Al said. "We just needed a few months to actually be more intimate with each other to decide if we were compatible."

"Oh god, please don't talk to me about your sex life," Ed said, a heavy blush rising to her cheeks.

"Oh, come on, Ed, you're not twelve anymore," Winry said. "Sex isn't an embarrassing topic for someone who's pushing twenty-one."

"Not for a few more months!" Ed exclaimed. "And I don't want to hear anything about you guys having sex! Have some modesty, Al is my brother and you're my best friend."

"All right, all right," Al said. "We won't talk to you about it."

"That's more like it," Ed said.

"So you've been staying in Central for a while," Winry said. "I thought you were a 'drifter'?"

"Well, I'm actually planning on packing up and heading out soon," Ed said. "I just...needed some time to think some things through and now I'm leaving Amestris for a while."

"Leaving Amestris?" Al asked. "For where?"

* * *

 **So, Ed's leaving Amestris. She's actually leaving to meet with someone ;) Anyone have any guesses as to who she's meeting?**

 **Lily (Guest): "I'm still reading this don't worry I just haven't been able to for the past few days :)"**

 **Yay! I thought I lost you! I know I lost a _lot_ of people after chapter twelve, so I'm happy you're still around. **


	22. Chapter 22

**This is it. Ed's pairing is finally revealed. I've had some great opinions given to me on certain pairings.**

 **So far, Royai, AlWin, and LingxLan Fan (is there a name for that one?) has been confirmed. Now just wait until you see who Ed gets with.**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Two**

"Are you sure you'll be all right?" Alphonse asked. The Resembool trio had traveled to the Central train station together, and were waiting on the platform. They would be going on separate trains. Ed was heading to West city to get to her final destination. Alphonse and Winry were taking a train that would be passing through Rush Valley.

"You're really worried about me _now_?" Ed asked. "We've been traveling apart for years now. I think I'll be okay."

"I just get worried because you don't have your alchemy to protect you anymore," Alphonse said. "I don't want someone to target you and you not be able to defend yourself."

"Don't patronize me, Al," Ed said. "My alchemy is what made me a target in the first place, and I know how to fight without alchemy. Teacher taught us all she knew."

"Right," Al responded.

"Speaking of which," Ed began. "Make sure to invite her to your wedding. And let me know when it is, after you plan it, because I'm definitely coming."

"There's something I want to ask you before you go," Al said suddenly. "Ed, will you be my best man?"

"You know I'm not a man, right?" Ed asked.

"Yeah, but you'll never wear a dress, so this is all I can get," Al said. "Winry and I talked about it. She said you probably wouldn't want to be her maid of honor, so said I could ask you about being my best man."

"Well, of course I'll be your best man," Ed said. "But I'm wearing a suit."

"I wouldn't have had it any other way," Al responded. "Have a safe trip. I wish you would tell us where you were going."

"Ah, but that would ruin the surprise," Ed said with a smirk. "West is all you need to know. I've gotta check up on some things."

"All right," Al said. "I'll write you about the wedding, but you've got to write me first and tell me where you're staying."

"I'll just call you," Ed said. "I think... I'll be there for a while. So you shouldn't have any trouble reaching me." There was a whistle of the train besides him announcing the last of boarding. "That's my train. I'll see you guys later."

"Be safe, Ed," Winry said. The three exchanged hugs and goodbyes before Ed jumped onto her train, taking her seat.

She let out a relieved sigh.

* * *

"Ed!" a familiar voice called out when Ed stepped off the train and into Creta. She felt like it had been so long since she had been there.

The first time Ed had arrived in Creta when she was just a teenager at fifteen years old. She wouldn't say he had _helped_ the people there, but she had definitely done something. The military there hadn't been thrilled with her.

But Ed turned to the familiar voice to see Julia Crichton. The two had met when they were teenagers and Ed had shown up. When Ed and Al had separated to travel and Ed went to the West, she had popped into Creta to see how it was doing. They were actually getting on their feet, and their society had traveled from the trench back into their home of Creta. Well, Milos…

"Julia!" Ed exclaimed when she spotted the redheaded girl. Julia ran to her friend and wrapped her arms around the blonde's neck. "It's been so long," Ed said as she wrapped her arms around the older girl.

"You've been gone for three months," Julia said. "I thought I'd have to sneak across the border just to see you again."

" _Please_ don't go sneaking across the border again," Ed begged. "I already had to call in a favor last time. As much as Mustang wants to help me, I don't think he'll do something like that unless I tell him we're dating."

"You mean you haven't told anyone yet?" Julia asked. Ed shook her head. The two had been dating for a year. Ed had left Creta to travel like she said she was doing, but always returned to Creta to see Julia. Of course, Julia had met Ed when she was still disguised as a male, and while she had been shocked to discover Ed's gender, she accepted it all the same. That seemed to be the general consensus.

"I don't want Al to look at me differently," Ed said. "I mean, he's been great with a lot of stuff, but...I don't know about this. To find out his sister is _gay_? I mean...it's hard."

"You and Alphonse are close," Julia began. "I don't think he would be the type to judge you about something like this. I mean, he was all right with you being a guy all these years, wasn't he?"

"Yeah..." Ed trailed off. "And he...he asked me to be his best man at his wedding."

"See? He'll accept you no matter what," Julia said. "Hold on, he's getting married?"

"To Winry," Ed said with a nod. "It's crazy, right? Now they want me to settle down so they can have all the Elrics having families."

"Have you ever thought about it?" Julia asked.

Ed shrugged. "I've thought about it, but I'm just not sure. I don't know if I'm ready to settle down; there's so much I want to do on my own."

"You and I have a long way before we start talking about getting married and having a family," Julia said. "Let's just enjoy things the way they are now."

"Yeah," Ed said with a smile. Julia was right; they didn't have to get married now just because Alphonse and Winry were. Who cared about people wanting to Elrics settling down? Ed was just going to enjoy her life with Julia now. "You know...Al totally dropped this huge bombshell of a wedding on me as a surprise. I think I'm gonna surprise him a little bit."

"Oh no, Ed..." Julia trailed off with a groan.

* * *

 **Did you see that coming? Probably not, haha. I wanted to make this a little longer, but decided against adding any more to it. See you in the next chapter!**

 **So Julia wasn't in the Brotherhood or the manga, which is what this was solely based off of, but the Sacred Star of Milos seemed like it was kind of attached to the Brotherhood at some point. It was either her or bringing back the Tringham brothers (neither of which are part of the Brotherhood) and I chose her.**

 **Lily (Guest): "You didn't lose me don't worry :)"**

 **Yes! I'm so happy that you're still reading.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

"This whole wedding thing is stressful," Ed groaned out as she collapsed on Winry's bed. She had been summoned to Resembool for wedding plans, and while she hadn't wanted to leave Creta just yet, she did. The wedding wasn't for another couple of weeks and Julia was getting her visa to Amestris ready with the military.

"Why do you think that?" Winry asked as she fished through some boxes she had found in the attic. She had been looking for her mother's wedding dress when she found the boxes and quickly brought them down to reminisce about the past.

"Because I don't only have to do the guy stuff with Al, but I'm doing the girl stuff with you," Ed said. "I mean; you don't _have_ to have me here to do stuff about your dress."

"But I _want_ you here to look at the dress," Winry said. "We used to play weddings all the time when we were kids. Now it's time for us to do the real thing, and I want you apart of it."

"I know, I know," Ed said with a sigh. She didn't want Winry to feel bad or anything. Ed actually _wanted_ to do this stuff with Winry, just not all at one time while she was also doing stuff with Alphonse. "And your wedding is gonna be great."

"I hope it lives up to your expectations," Winry responded as she continued going through the boxes.

"I hope it lives up to _your_ expectations," Ed said. "I mean, it's _your_ wedding. Yours and my brothers, which is still a _little_ weird to think about, really. I mean, Al's my brother and you're my best friend. Never thought you two would get hitched...with each other."

"Well, I guess we surprised you," Winry said. "Speaking of the wedding, are you bringing someone? I need to know for the guest list."

"Oh, yeah..." Ed trailed off, a blush rising to her cheeks. Julia...She was going to have to admit to them at some point, but Ed was already planning on scaring everyone by not telling them. Well, she didn't need to say it was _Julia_.

"Oh, I know that look," Winry said with a grin. "You _like_ someone!"

"Well, I'm bringing...someone," Ed said. She needed to let Winry know for the guest list and the guest list only.

"Who is it?" Winry asked. "Come on, details!"

"Like all the details you gave me about when you and Al started dating?" Ed asked. "No way! You get to stay in the dark about this one until I say so!"

"You're no fun," Winry said with a pout.

"Enough rummaging in those boxes, go get the dress!" Ed exclaimed. She sort of wanted the thing over with, but she also sort of wanted to see Winry in the dress. She remembered Winry marveling over it when they were kids. Winry used to talk about wearing it to her wedding all the time. Ed had asked her mother if she had a wedding dress, but since Trisha Elric had never officially been married, she did not.

"All right, all right." Winry climbed back into the attic, not returning until she had the dress bag in her hands. The dress had to stay in the bag so it didn't get dusty down there. Winry took a moment to unzip the bag before dressing in it. "Do you think it'll need to be tailored?" Winry asked.

"Whoa..." Ed trailed off as she stared on at her friend.

"What is it?" Winry asked in a panicky voice. "Is it all right?"

"You look fantastic," Ed said. "I mean...You look so much like Aunt Sarah."

"Yeah?" Winry smiled a bit. It lit her world to be told that she looked like her mother. "My mother was amazing."

"Yeah she was," Ed said. "You know, I met with some Ishvalan refugees when we were teenagers. They said your parents saved their lives during the war."

"Yeah?" Winry asked. "I'm glad. They did a lot of good with their lives. I wish I could be the same."

"You _are_ the same," Ed said. "Now stop getting me mushy and change out of the dress. It looks great and you don't need to have it tailored."

"Thanks for this, Ed," Winry thanked. "For doing this with me. I was worried you might not."

"Why wouldn't I?" Ed asked. "We're best friends, and we've only been talking about this day our entire lives."

"Because you're so...not girly..." Winry trailed off. "When you decided to enlist as a State Alchemist and take on the name of Edward, I thought that was it for my best friend who was a girl."

"I'm a girl," Ed stated. "I always have been and I always will be. Just because I took on a different name didn't change anything. I've never been girly, but hell, neither have you. I don't know any girly girl who would spend her days in a mechanic's shop working on automail. Though, I don't really know any girly girls either..." Ed pretty much knew her teacher, the Lieutenant Hawkeye, Julia, Sheska, and Mrs. Hughes with little Elysia. Well, Mrs. Hughes and Elysia were the girliest. General Armstrong was just terrifying. Julia was slightly girly. She wore skirts, which was more than Ed could say for Winry.

"Thanks for reassuring me, Ed," Winry said. "And still, thank you for doing this with me."

"Yeah, yeah, what are friends for?" Ed allowed her eyes to graze of Winry's form once more. Oh, how beautiful she would look on her wedding day. "Seriously, you're done trying it on. You look amazing."

"All right, all right." Winry took off the dress before placing it back in the dress bag. Instead of returning it to the attic, she put it in her own closet. She was quick to get dressed before returning to the boxes she had discovered.

"Seriously, what's in those boxes that's so distracting?" Ed asked. She peeked over to see photo albums.

"Some more pictures to add to the corkboard," Winry said excitedly. Pinako had kept a corkboard of pictures ever since they were babies. They never knew why she did it, but she always took pictures and added them to the board, even after Ed had been accepted as a State Alchemist.

"Continuing granny's tradition?" Ed asked.

Winry nodded. "Definitely."

* * *

"Excuse me," Alphonse said at the counter of a suit shop. They were getting everything from Resembool so they didn't have to travel. Thankfully, everyone knew everyone.

"Alphonse!" the employee - Ed remembered him, his name was James - called out. "You getting ready for the big day?"

"Yes, sir," Alphonse said. "I was actually looking to get a couple of suits. One for me and one for Ed."

"Hey, James," Ed greeted from beside her brother. It was no secret that Ed preferred to stay away from dresses and skirts in Resembool. She had dressed more like a boy since the very day she could pick out her own clothes. It actually made things easier for their mother, since Ed was able to pass down her clothes to Alphonse, and when they had finally grown the same size, they just shared a lot of their clothes.

"Hey, Ed," James responded. "Sure thing, guys, come pick out a suit and then I'll have a look at your measurements and see what we can do." Mostly the suit would just need to be tailored for Ed, having a feminine form. Clothing for men didn't fit her the same way it used to. "So, Ed, do you want the suit tighter, or do you want it to kind of hide things?"

"I was looking for something to not really hide it, but not skin tight," Ed explained. "Kind of how my clothes fit now. A little baggy."

"Sure thing," James said. He got out the notebook he used to take down orders and measurements. The Elrics picked out suits that matched for the wedding before having their measurements taken. As predicted, Al didn't need his suit tailored, but Ed did.

"I'll have it done by tomorrow," James said. "Just come back in tomorrow afternoon for a fitting to see how it fits, okay?"

"Sure thing, James," Ed said. The two then made their way to the bakery where they planned to meet with Winry. She was getting a cake ordered and picking out food for the guests.

"Hey, guys," Winry greeted when the two walked into the bakery. "Nancy was helping me pick out a cake design." They remembered Nancy, she was their friend Shelly's mom.

"Oh, I haven't seen you in years, Ed," Nancy said when she saw the two. "You've grown up. Just like your brother here."

"People do that," Ed responded.

"Did you finish getting the suits?" Winry asked. The Elrics nodded.

"Oh, is Ed going to be your maid of honor?" Nancy asked in an excited tone. Ed was almost upset to tell her no. Almost.

"Actually, my friend Paninya is going to be my maid of honor," Winry said. "Ed's going to be Al's best man."

"Really?" Nancy asked. "That seems so...untraditional. Isn't the best man supposed to be a...man?"

"We've never been one for tradition, Nancy," Alphonse explained. "And I asked my sister to be my best man because she's just the right one for the job."

"Yep," Ed agreed. "So what's going on with the cake situation?"

"I was just looking at the designs through Nancy's booklet, but I'm thinking of having her just surprise me," Winry explained. "They're all so beautiful."

"Well, thank you, Winry," Nancy thanked. "It's so strange to see the three of you grown up. All the kids are adults now. Getting married and having children."

"Having kids?" Ed asked.

"Shelly had a baby," Winry explained. "Speaking of which, you and Shelly are coming to the wedding, right?"

"We wouldn't miss it for the world," Nancy said. "Now, on to what you'd like to be served at the wedding."

* * *

Ed arrived at the train station the day before the wedding to pick up Julia. She was actually accompanied by Alphonse and Winry, which was just what she needed to thoroughly surprise them after what they had done to her.

"I can't believe you finally found someone, sister," Al said with a laugh.

"Don't sound so shocked!" Ed exclaimed. "I'm a loveable person!"

"Well, you don't really let anyone into your bubble," Winry said. "You still don't tell _us_ everything and we're your family."

"Speak for yourself," Ed replied. "You two kept your relationship a secret from me until you were _engaged_!"

"We wanted you to be surprised, sister," Al said.

"Well, now you get to be surprised," Ed huffed, crossing her arms over her chest as they waited. Soon enough, the train had rolled in to the platform. While Central had a big station, Resembool didn't. Just a tiny platform with a ticket booth and a few benches. Ed stood from the bench as soon as the train was still.

Usually only one or two people got off the train at Resembool at a time. The place was so rural, there was never a big crowd of people. This time, though, there were quite a few. Mustang and his team stepped off the train first, which...well, it disappointed Ed, who expected to see her girlfriend.

"You invited Mustang and the others?" Ed asked. Alphonse nodded as if that was the dumbest question in the world.

"They're our friends, sister," Al said.

"Whatever." Ed looked back toward the train. Even Darius, Heinkel, Jerso, and Zampano stepped off the train. "Lots of people."

"We have a lot of friends, Ed," Winry said. "We tried to keep it smaller, but we wanted everyone to be here."

Finally, after all others were off the train, Julia stepped off.

"Ed!" she called out with a smile. Ed grinned back, running over to her and wrapping her arms around the redhead. It had been too long; they hadn't seen each other since Ed had returned to Resembool to get ready for the wedding and Julia was still getting her visa set up.

"I'm so glad to see you!" Ed exclaimed. "I swear; we always get together way too long after the last time we've seen each other." She was going to have to seriously consider getting Julia a permanent visa in Central, or maybe even getting her own visa to Creta.

"Julia?" Alphonse asked. " _This_ is who you've been blushing over for the past two months?"

"Well..." Ed trailed off. "Yeah. Julia, you remember Al and Winry. And I guess you saw Mustang on the train. As for the rest of you, this is my girlfriend, Julia."

"I'm so happy for you two," Al said. He had admitted to thinking Julia was cute and pretty last time he saw her. He even developed a little bit of a crush on her, but he hadn't seen her since they were teenagers.

"Alphonse!" Julia exclaimed with a smile. "Ed told me about getting your body back. You two look a lot alike." Ed and Al shared their father's appearance with their trademark golden hair and matching eyes. "And Winry, we didn't really have a chance to properly meet before, but I remember seeing you. It's nice to officially meet you."

"You too, Julia," Winry said. "I just...I'm kind of shocked. I should've seen something like this coming."

"Like what?" Ed asked.

"You being gay," Al said. "I knew the whole time. I mean, since we were kids. Is this why you wouldn't tell us who you were dating?"

"Well..." Ed trailed off. She didn't even know she was gay until she was a teenager. How did Al catch on so easily?

"She was worried about how you would react," Julia said. "I _told_ you that you had nothing to worry about," she added, directed toward Ed.

"I know, you're always right," Ed said.

"And now Ed knows the secret to keeping her girlfriend happy," Mustang interjected.

* * *

Ed had been waiting for this day for too long. Well, in reality, it was only like three months. A nice spring wedding in March. Winry and Alphonse's wedding day. It was actually a day a lot of people in Resembool were waiting for. The day a Rockbell would marry into the Elric family name. People had been setting Al and Winry up on playdates since they were babies, hoping for them to be a couple when they got older. Ed supposed their hopes were dashed when the Elrics moved away from Resembool to join the military, but they were back. And now they were getting married. And Ed was freaking out a little. But Winry was more.

"What if I forget something?" Winry asked. "What if I forget my vows in the middle of the ceremony?" She was standing in her dress, pacing in her bedroom. The wedding was to take place in the field just outside of their home. Everything had been set up that morning by Ed and Al, and they even had the help of their neighbors who had arrived early to help.

"Then just make something up," Ed said. "I mean, your vows are just made up, anyways. Make it something that's just as gushy as what you said in the first place." She still thought Winry looked amazing.

"That's easy for you to say; you're good at improvising," Winry said. "I'm horrible under pressure."

"Really?" Ed asked. "Horrible under pressure? What about when you made me a freaking arm and leg? You were under some pressure then too."

"Granny helped a lot!" Winry exclaimed. "She's the one that managed your medication and recovery, I just made the automail."

"You were there and you were under pressure," Ed said. "When we were in Briggs and you were being held hostage by Kimblee, _you're_ the one who came up with the plan of escape. Under all that pressure of military guards surrounding the building and everything. You did that. You're fine under pressure."

"You're not making me feel any better," Winry said.

Ed shrugged. "Can't say I didn't try." She stood from Winry's bed that she had been laying on and wrapped an arm over Winry's shoulder. "Does this make us sisters now?"

"Almost," Winry said. "But we were already sisters anyway."

"Speak for yourself," Ed said. "I always thought of you as a distant cousin that would deliberately pour milk on my pants and tell my mom I wet myself."

"That was _one_ time," Winry said. "And your mom did not believe me."

"Yeah she did!" Ed exclaimed. "She kept track of my 'bathroom habits' for a week after that!"

"Really?" Winry asked and she couldn't help but laugh. "I'm not gonna apologize for laughing; that's funny."

"Oh, hush you," Ed said. "Let's go downstairs. Al should be outside now, so we won't have to worry about him seeing you."

"The other guys are keeping him distracted for now," Winry said. The two made their way downstairs where the women seemed to find themselves.

"Winry!" Elysia called out as she hugged the bride.

"Hi, Elysia," Winry greeted, bending down to hug Elysia. The girl had grown, but she was still a kid. "Are you excited about being the flower girl?"

"Yeah, I've been practicing," Elysia said.

"She's been excited about it ever since you asked her if she wanted to be the flower girl," Gracia said. "I'm so happy for you, Winry. You and Alphonse both."

"Thanks," Winry said. "I know that Al and I will be very happy for the rest of our lives."

"Oh my goodness!" a sudden squeak from Julia rang out. Ed turned hastily.

"What's wrong?" the ex-alchemist asked.

"You were so cute!" Julia exclaimed. She was standing in front of the corkboard, analyzing the pictures that had been there for years and had been there for a few days. "Is this a picture of you with a spoon in your mouth?"

"Ed didn't like eating her oatmeal," Winry explained with a laugh. "That was when she was able to move again after the automail surgery. Granny wouldn't let her eat whole foods for a while. Ed called it 'mush'."

"It _was_ mush," Ed said. "And you would flaunt eating cookies in front of me because I couldn't have any."*

"You make me sound so cruel," Winry said. "I think I'm done reminiscing about the past with you, killjoy."

"Yay, we're gonna stop talking about it," Ed said happily. "I'm going outside with the guys." No one questioned Ed going to be with the men. She had always been that way and always would be. Girly stuff - even Winry's wedding - wasn't for her.

"Sister!" Al called Ed over, waving a hand. Ed was quick to make her way over, readjusting her suit. She hated dressing up, but it least she wasn't wearing a dress. She had abandoned the jacket of the suit inside until the wedding started.

"Hey, guys," Ed greeted.

"I haven't seen you in years," Darius said when he caught a look at Ed. "A girlfriend, huh?"

"Yeah," Ed said sheepishly. "I got pretty lucky on that one."

"Julia's a nice girl," Al said. "I didn't think you were into her like that, though."

"Well, I thought she was cute when we first met, but I didn't see her again until we split up to travel after you were fully recovered," Ed explained. "She's actually the reason I started thinking I might be gay."

"I never thought the day Ed got a girlfriend would be the day the kid would come out as gay too," Mustang said. "I always thought gay for Ed meant being with a guy."

"Well, biologically, I'm a girl," Ed said. "I'm just...tomboyish."

"Congrats, kid," Havoc congratulated. "But I kinda thought you were into guys, like...the whole time I knew you. I even thought you were gay when you were twelve."

"Why?" Ed asked.

"Well...you were kind of..." Breda trailed off, trying to think of the word. "You weren't very masculine. Like, you worked out and you knew how to fight, but for a guy, you seemed kind of feminine."

"Feminine for a guy, boyish for a girl." Ed nodded. "I was feminine for a guy because I'm a girl." She laughed a little.

"What are you doing out here, though?" Al asked. "I thought you were inside helping Winry."

"I was," Ed said. "She's in her dress, but things got kind of girly back there. Julia started looking at the corkboard and I was not doing that."

"Corkboard?" Heinkel asked.

"Oh, you didn't notice?" Al asked. "It's a corkboard on the wall full of pictures from when we were kids. Our granny set it up when Winry was born, I think. She was adding pictures from that and when Ed was born, she kept doing it. After me, it became more of a thing."

"I don't really remember granny taking pictures, though," Ed said. "Do you?"

"Well, I think a lot of the pictures were taken by either her or mom," Al said. "And then there were some taken by the townsfolk that they gave her."

"Huh..." Ed trailed off. "And moving on. You ready to get hitched, little brother?"

"Are you?" Al asked.

"No way!" Ed exclaimed.

"You know, Ed," Mustang began. "I thought this might be my only chance to see you in a dress. And you went for a suit."

"Of course I wore a suit," Ed said. "The best man wears a suit."

"Best man?" Havoc asked. "You mean _you're_ the best man?"

"Of course I am!" Ed exclaimed. "And I'm a little insulted that you guys would think my little brother here would replace me in my rightful place as the best man."

"I just thought you'd be the maid of honor," Breda commented.

"SHUT UP!"

* * *

The wedding went off without a hitch. Despite the anxiety from Winry about forgetting her vows, she didn't. It only took an hour to get through the ceremony, and while the teenage Ed would have fidgeted the entire time through something like that, the adult Ed proudly stood beside her brother as he got married.

Ed wished she had a camera in that moment. It was so amazing to see her brother so vibrant and happy. And her best friend looked so much like her mother in that moment. Ed couldn't believe how time had passed. They were adults now. It was really crazy.

"What do you think, brother?" Al asked after the ceremony had ended and everyone was mingling once more. Ed couldn't help but smile at her brother calling her that once more. He hadn't done that in years. "Are you happy about having a new big sister?"

"As long as she doesn't spill milk on my pants again, I'm fine," Ed said.

"What?" Al asked. "What is she talking about?" He turned to Winry for an explanation.

"According to Ed, I spilled milk on her pants when we were kids and told your mom she wet herself," Winry explained. "I remember the spilling, but I don't remember your mom's reaction."

"Oh, wait, I remember that!" Al said suddenly. "That was when she was asking you to go to the bathroom every hour for a week."

"See, Al remembers," Ed said in defense of her memory.

"All right, all right, I was horrible," Winry said with a laugh.

"Now _this_ is blackmail material," Mustang said suddenly. Ed turned to see that he and the other men had surrounded the corkboard.

"STAY AWAY FROM THAT YOU BASTARD!"

* * *

 **Holy shit that was a long chapter.**

 ***So, the pieces about Ed's recovery I partly took from a fic called "The Big Bang Theory" by 0-mirage-0. You should go check it out; it's amazing!**

 **Izumi and Sig didn't really have a part, but they were there, I swear.**

 **Lily (Guest): "** **Julia! From sacred star of milos! YES! and also the name for Ling and Lanfan is Lingfan"**

 **Awesome! I've never really read fics about Ling and Lan Fan, so I didn't know what it was called. It fits. And here's more of Julia. More to come too.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

Ed woke early in the morning, turning in the bed to discover the other side empty. She had returned to Creta with Julia after the wedding. Everyone had been shocked to discover that Ed had decided to stay in Creta, and had obtained a visa to do so. No one had ever expected for Ed to settle down; even if they cracked jokes about it often.

After the discovery of her empty bed, Ed stood and made her way to her living room. Her and Julia had moved in together and shared the rent on an apartment. Ed soon found that Julia was sitting on the floor of their living room in her pajamas looking through one of those god awful boxes Winry had given them.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" Ed asked as she sat on the floor beside her girlfriend.

"Looking through pictures," Julia answered, unashamed of her actions. Why would she be bothered to look at old pictures of her girlfriend, after all. It was nice to reminisce, even if she hadn't participated in the stories the pictures told.

"Don't make me call Winry and give her a piece of my mind for giving you that stuff," Ed said. She actually wasn't that angry that Julia had been given the pictures. Julia was her girlfriend, and Ed didn't mind sharing that part of her life with her. Even if it embarrassed the blonde a bit.

"Oh, come on, you were so cute when you were little," Julia said, looking down at a picture of Ed and Al together with their mother. "And your mother was so beautiful. You look like her, you know."

"Nah, Al looks more like her," Ed said. "I look like my dad." Even though Ed and Al shared the same golden hair and eyes, Alphonse's face was more rounded like their mother's, and Ed's features were sharper like their father's.

"There aren't any pictures of your dad," Julia said. Ed had told her about the absent father before, so Julia hadn't been surprised. Though, she had thought there might be one picture. After all, their father hadn't left until they were four and five years old.

"Uh, yeah..." Ed trailed off. "I actually have a picture of him somewhere." She stood from where she had been sitting by Julia, making her way to their bedroom. After a moment of digging through a box underneath their bed, Ed returned and held the picture out for her to see. It was the only picture with all four of her family members. "My dad came back when I was sixteen and took the picture. After he died, my granny gave me the picture to hold on to. I don't know why she didn't just put it back on the corkboard, but whatever."

"Wow, you really _do_ look like your father," Julia said with wide eyes as she looked at the picture. "I mean, no offense. I know you weren't very close with him."

"Nah, he's okay," Ed said. "Now, I mean. I still don't agree with his decisions, but when it came to everything, he helped Al and I. Hell, he was willing to risk his life for Al when it came down to it."

"I wish I could have met him," Julia said. "Him and your mother."

"I don't really know a lot about my dad because he left when I was so little," Ed explained. "But my mom...She was amazing. She gave Al and I everything she could, and was such a strong woman. I only wish she could have seen Al and I now. I mean, Al's married to Winry with a baby on the way."

"How are they doing, by the way?" Julia asked. Ed talked to Winry or Alphonse every day, and Julia didn't blame her. She knew how close they were, and admired their relationship.

"They're okay," Ed answered. "They're not really getting much sleep right now, though. Winry's back has been hurting lately and she hasn't been sleeping, so Al's not sleeping either." After the wedding, Winry was pretty much pregnant right off the bat. Ed teased Al about how they had a shotgun wedding and they were just trying to hide it, but Ed knew it wasn't true. Well...maybe. They _had_ been all over each other before the wedding. Winry was due in two weeks and Ed and Julia were planning on returning to Resembool to help out during first few days.

"I wonder how that feels," Julia said quietly.

"What, to be pregnant?" Ed asked. "The way Winry describes it, it's full of back aches, no sleep, getting fat, and generally horrible." Ed left out certain parts Winry had talked about. Winry had told her all about feeling the baby's first kick, hearing its heartbeat, and everything. Ed didn't want to say anything about those parts.

"Don't get scared there, Ed," Julia said. "You know full well that we, as two girls, can't get pregnant together." Ed could hear the slight disappointment in her tone.

Ed internally groaned, as she should have known Julia would want a family someday. Julia had wanted her brother to be with her, alive and well, so bad that she had committed the taboo and lost her leg because of it. The redhead's left leg had been automail since she was sixteen. Ed thought it was almost ironic that they both had automail left legs.

"We should talk about this..." Ed trailed off. "But...can we do it later?" She wanted to talk about it, but needed to push it off so she could figure out what she wanted to say. Ed wasn't good at coming up with responses to serious discussions about the future.

"Sure thing," Julia said. "You have to get to work anyway. I have to go see about getting a visiting visa to Resembool." Ed had taken up a construction job nearby. She enjoyed the physical activity that came with the work.

"Great," Ed said, giving Julia a peck on the cheek before jumping up. She needed to get out of her pajamas and ready for work.

* * *

 **Lily (Guest): "I loved this chapter! And I'm glad you paired up Winry and Al. :)"**

 **Thanks! I'm really happy about what I did with Al and Winry. I figured Winry _had_ to get with an Elric. It was pretty much her destiny. (In all seriousness, though, she would have had a wedding in this fic whether it was with Al or not. I really just did Al because I thought it would be sweet for Ed to be the best man). **


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

Ed and Julia had arrived in Resembool on Winry's due date. However, there was no baby to be found. There was no sign of labor even in the next few days, and granny said that Winry was so young that she might be a couple weeks late to give birth.

"How are things?" Ed asked early in the morning. She had been getting up early for the past few weeks, and it was great, because Al and Winry were up early all the time too from Winry's discomfort.

"Things are things," Al answered from the kitchen as he made Winry a cup of tea. "I don't know whether or not to look forward to Winry having the baby."

"Why not?" Ed asked.

"When the baby's born, we're still not going to get sleep, but at least Winry will be comfortable," Al said. "But then our baby will be uncomfortable because we won't know how to help her."

"I don't think that's what you should be worried about," Ed said. "I mean; you've always been great at nurturing things. Just...think of it like the cats you always wanted."

"A baby is a lot different than a cat," Al spoke in monotone.

"But you were always ready for the responsibility of a cat," Ed explained. "A baby's hardly any different. I mean, you just feed it and change it, right?"

"The baby books say different," Al said. "They say these times are critical bonding points in a baby's life. And did you know the baby can hear everything going on?"

"Really?" Ed asked. "They can hear everything?" She wondered about her own previous pregnancy. Had it been able to hear? No, it wasn't possible. It had only been a clump of cells.

"After so long, yeah," Al answered. "It's crazy. Winry's been playing it music, but I don't think she's playing the kind of music the books had in mind."

"That's my girl," Ed said with a grin. "I'm hoping she pops the thing out soon so I can see what it looks like. What're you naming it again?"

"Madison," Al said. "Madison Lee Elric."

"Cute," Ed commented. "I'm gonna call her Maddie." Al shrugged. It wasn't like he could stop his sister from doing it. "Planning anymore later?"

"Nope," Al responded. "Not yet, anyway. We haven't even had this one yet and there's a long time to plan future kids." After a moment Al asked, "What about you?"

"What _about_ me?" Ed asked with wide eyes.

"You've been with Julia for a long time now," Al said. "And you two live together. Do you ever think about tying the knot? Starting a family?"

"I... I think about marriage sometimes..." Ed trailed off. "Julia's been thinking about a family lately. She hasn't said anything, but I can tell she wants one."

"What do you think?" Al asked.

"I don't know." Ed sighed. "I mean; I've always been worried about having kids because I didn't want to make the same mistakes as dad. We made up in the end, but there was all that lost time, and I still don't respect his reasons for leaving."

"You would _never_ do something like that," Al said. "You're different. You seem to take responsibility for things."

"I'm a drifter," Ed said.

"Not anymore," Al retorted. "You've been living in Creta for almost a year now with Julia. You two have lives together. I think mom would've wanted grandkids."

"She's getting them from _you_ ," Ed said. "Maybe you need to brush up on your basic human anatomy. Girls can't have kids with other girls."

"I'm talking about adoption," Al said. "There are plenty of kids to adopt. Hell, I bet there's more to adopt in Creta than there are in Amestris."

"Hm..." Ed trailed off, actually thinking about it. It wouldn't just be them starting a family, but they could actually help a child in need. She hadn't thought about that before. Taking in a child with no family. Just like the Rockbells had done for them.

"Oh, did I actually get you thinking?" Al asked with a smile.

"No way!" Ed exclaimed. Suddenly Julia ran into the room. "What's going on?"

"Winry's in labor!" Julia exclaimed. Al nearly dropped the cup of tea he had been holding, but Ed caught it quickly.

"Go to your wife, Alphonse!" Ed shouted, snapping Al out of the daze he had fallen into. The youngest Elric ran to his and Winry's bedroom where Winry was lying in bed, gripping her stomach.

"Are you all right?" Alphonse asked hastily.

"I'm doing fine," Winry reassured. "I'm just feeling the contractions; that's all. Everything is going to be all right."

"I don't know if I'm ready for this," Al managed out.

"You will be."

* * *

The birth had gone by relatively quickly. Granny said she was shocked because usually with new mothers as young as Winry, it takes several hours. But soon enough, there was a healthy baby girl wrapped up in a green blanket that Winry, Ed, and Alphonse had all been wrapped in after their births.

"She's beautiful," Julia gushed. She had taken an immediate interest in the baby. Al almost said it was a girl thing, but Ed had glared at him for a minute and stopped the thought immediately. "What do you think, Ed?" Julia asked.

"She looks like a Maddie," Ed answered.

"Maddie?" Winry asked with a raised eyebrow. She had not permitted a nickname for her daughter.

"That's what sister wants to call her," Al said. "Is that all right with you?"

"Does it matter?" Winry asked, having the same thoughts as Al earlier. They could not stop Ed from speaking a name to their daughter. If Ed wanted to call her Harry, they couldn't stop her. "I don't care what you call her. She's perfect."

"Don't all mothers think that, though?" Julia asked.

"Yeah, Shelly said she was terrified that her baby was gonna be ugly and it was," Ed said with a laugh. "And she thinks it's gorgeous!"

"That's mean, sister," Al said. "Shelly's baby will grow into her ears."

"Whatever," Ed responded. "But your baby looks fine."

At least, Ed felt comfortable about the baby until nightfall. When it started screaming. And it didn't stop.

* * *

 **Lily (Guest): "Aw ed and Julia live together that is so cute"**

 **Yep, they made the big decision to get it together and move in with each other. I thought it was about time Ed stop traveling all over the place. Gotta settle down eventually.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

"Ed!" Julia called out to wake up her girlfriend. "Ed, Cori! Come on!"

Ed let out a groan as she crawled out of bed. Julia wasn't in their room so Ed could only assume she was in the kitchen cooking. The first thing Ed did when leaving their room was head to Cori's room.

They had adopted twelve-year-old Corinna from Ishval two months after Alphonse and Winry had Maddie. Winry would call all the time and tell Ed what little things Maddie had done, and Julia had already been working Ed to try and start a family. So, the two had gone to Ishval and organized an interview with Corinna. They stayed in Ishval until the adoption was finalized and finally returned to Creta.

"You up, Cori?" Ed asked, though she could clearly see that her daughter was not. Her _daughter_. How weird did that sound? Cori was curled into bed with a notebook by her side. After doodling on every napkin and scrap paper she could find, Ed had gone out and bought her a sketch book. That was the book currently beside her. Ed gave a happy sigh before going to the kitchen.

"Is she up?" Julia asked as she set the table for breakfast.

"Nope," Ed answered. "She's sleeping with that sketch book again. I bet she was up all night doodling in that thing."

"Well, they do say artistic people stay up later in the night," Julia commented.

"Who the hell is _they_?" Ed asked. She leaned against the kitchen counter to watch her girlfriend bustle around the kitchen. "Holy shit, I'm domestic now."

"Don't use that kind of language in front of Cori," Julia said. "We've talked about that."

"And I told you she's probably heard worse," Ed said. "But I'll try to watch myself."

"Thank you," Julia thanked. "Now hurry up and eat something. You need to get to work and I need to try and get Cori awake for school," Julia said.

"Hold it," Ed ordered, pulling Julia close to her. " _You_ eat something. I'll get Cori up and we'll all eat _together_." She let Julia go and walked to Cori's room once more, mumbling something about how if they were going to do this domestic shit, they were going to do it right.

"Cori," Ed called as she walked into the young girl's room. She was Ishvalan and it showed through her dark skin and red eyes, though the people of Creta were more tolerant now than they had been when Ed and Julia were teenagers. "Come on, Cori, you've got to wake up."

"Any luck?" a voice behind Ed asked. She turned to see Julia leaning against the door frame.

"I told you to eat," Ed said. "I'll get her up if I have to carry her to the dining room."

"Just don't hit her head against anything," Julia warned as she walked away. Ed cringed at the memory of walking with Maddie in her arms and swatting her head against the door frame on the way in. Ed had reasonably freaked out and Al and Winry tried to calm her down. They said they had done the same thing before.

Ed didn't disappoint, lifting Cori from her bed and carrying her to the kitchen table. By the time they were at the table, Cori was awake.

"Were you awake that whole time?" Julia asked with a smile. Cori had grown attached to her adoptive parents in the four months she had been living with them, and sometimes pretended to be asleep so Ed would carry her.

"Maybe," Cori said.

"You sly dog," Ed responded as she sat down beside the Ishvalan. "But that's my girl."

"Don't encourage her, Ed," Julia warned.

* * *

"Ed!" Alphonse called out when the family of three appeared at the Rockbell-Elric doorstep. Al quickly let them in, admiring the new addition. "You must be Corinna," Al said with a smile. "I'm Alphonse, Ed's brother. It's nice to meet you."

"Hi, Uncle Al," Cori greeted. "But you can call me Cori."

"All right, Cori." Al was shocked. He never would have expected his sister to ever have a family, really. She was always so independent and never stopped moving. She often complained when they were teenagers of being fidgety if she stayed in one place for too long.

"It's too bad we had to wait until Christmas to come around," Ed said. It wouldn't be Christmas for a few weeks, but they hadn't been able to come before that. They had made too many trips into Amestris and needed to wait for Julia's legal sake.

"Well, we did see you right before you adopted Cori," Al said. "Look at you, being all domestic and stuff."

"Yeah, it's weird," Ed responded. "Never thought I'd do something like this. But, I guess it's about time the Elrics settle down. I'm twenty-two now, after all."

"Almost twenty-three," Al reminded.

"Don't remind me," Ed groaned out. "Where's Winry?"

"Upstairs with the baby," Al answered. "I'll go get her." Al disappeared up the stairs and Cori found her way to the corkboard fairly quickly.

"Whoa..." Cori trailed off. "There are a lot of pictures of you here, dad!" To cause less confusion between the two, and because Ed felt more comfortable as a father than any sort of mother, they had Cori call Ed 'dad' and Julia 'mom'. Of course, that was only after the three had become comfortable with each other and Cori had asked if it was okay if she called them that.

"Yeah," Ed said. "This isn't the house I grew up in, but I did grow up not that far from here. I lived here when I was ten years old until I joined the military." Cori frowned a little. It was understandable for her not to be comfortable with the military, which was why Ed didn't talk about it much. Though, the military was helping Ishvalans more than ever now that Mustang was actually the Furher.

"Who's that?" Cori asked, pointing to a picture of Trisha holding Ed and Al when they were toddlers.

"That's my mom," Ed said fondly. "She would have loved to meet you." Cori knew that Ed's mother had died. It was the way they had related to each other during the adoption process.

"She's pretty," Cori said.

"I'm here!" Winry exclaimed as she walked downstairs with ten month old Madison in her arms. "It's so nice to see you guys."

"You look ridiculous with a baby in your arms," Ed commented. "I keep expecting to see a wrench in your hand instead, but every time I've seen you since Maddie was born, it's just been a baby."

"Do you _want_ me to get my wrench?" Winry asked. "Because I have it."

"Not in your bra, I hope," Ed said, remembering a time when the blonde woman had stored it there.

"No, the baby needs to be fed from there now," Winry said. "But near." Ed didn't want to think of what that meant.

"Cori, this is Winry, Al's wife and my childhood friend," Ed introduced. "She actually made my automail for me when we were a few years younger than you." Ed had been ten years old when he had been fitted, and Winry was eleven when she had designed, built, and helped attached the automail.

"What's the baby's name?" Cori asked excitedly. Ed rolled her eyes. Every woman - or girl in this case - that saw Maddie was enamored by her.

"This is Madison," Winry said, kneeling a little and letting Cori get a good look at her. The baby girl's hair had come with age to be a golden blonde. Her eyes opened to reveal the same golden Alphonse and Ed carried.

"She looks like dad," Cori said. Winry and Al both shot a confused look to Ed who just shrugged. She would explain it later if they really wanted to know.

"Well, Ed and Al have a lot of the same features," Winry said. "So, how old are you, Cori?" Ed had already told them, but Winry was trying to get to know the girl on her level.

"I'm almost thirteen," Cori said. "My birthday is in a week!"

"Yep," Ed said with a smirk. "December twenty-fourth."

"Well, we'll definitely have to celebrate," Al said. "Luckily for you, Winry makes the best desserts I've ever tasted."

"Except she makes _way too much_ apple pie," Ed remarked.

"Oh, shut up," Winry said.

"No yelling?" Ed asked. "I'm impressed."

"The baby," Winry said, pointing to the infant in her arms as an explanation. "And speaking of babies..."

"No," Julia said, a smile growing on her face.

"Yes." Winry nodded, also gleeful.

"Am I missing something here?" Ed asked. She wasn't picking up on the internal language Winry and Julia were sharing with each other.

"Winry's pregnant again, sister," Al said. "We just found out yesterday."

"Holy..." Ed trailed off, glancing at Cori. "cow."

"Nice save," Julia commented. "Congratulations, Winry. Do you know when you're due?"

"I'm due in August," Winry answered.

"You just won't give her a break, will ya?" Ed asked Alphonse. "Give this horse some time to recover from the last calf."

"Did you just refer to my wife as a horse?" Al asked in a confused tone.

"Maybe."

* * *

 **So, I figured Corinna for the name of Ed and Julia's daughter because in the Brotherhood, Lust used the name Solaris as her name. I looked that name up and saw that it was Greek. Since in the original, Lust was actually an Ishvalan, I went for a Greek name for a girl and found Corinna. I liked it because it could be shortened to Cori.**

 **Also, Corinna's birthday is in a week in this chapter because mine is next week (woo nineteen; I'm gonna do shots).**

 **I also genetically mapped out what Alphonse and Winry's kids would look like through the biology I was forced to learn this past summer. I did the same thing with Ed and Winry and am considering doing Ed and Julia in case I decide to take them to another fic where Ed's actually a guy again.**

 **And one more chapter! It'll be published tomorrow for all you guys :)**

 **Lily (Guest): "Aaaaaw! Al is a dad! And Winry is a mom! Everything is adorable!"**

 **Thanks! I hope you still think that with Ed's new addition.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

"I'm so nervous," Ed said to her brother as she waited in the church.

It was official. They were finally getting married.

After being together for years, they were finally going to get married. Ed had proposed during dinner at their house with their daughter sitting at her side. She didn't want to do this without Cori there. They were a family.

It was Julia's idea for the church. Ed had always been an atheist, but Julia was more religious. Ed didn't see the harm in marrying in a church. It didn't mean anything to her, but it meant the world to Julia.

"You don't have to be," Al said, trying to reassure his sister that everything would go as planned. After Ed had been Al's best man at his wedding, Al was being Ed's best man at her wedding. Usually Ed would have had to pick a maid of honor, but they were an unusual bunch. Julia had chosen Cori to be her maid of honor. "Just remember that you're marrying the love of your life today. You're getting married to the mother of your daughter."

"Yeah." Ed nodded, trying to remember what Alphonse was saying and keep herself calm. Now she knew how Winry felt. "Yeah, I'm trying."

"I told you not to worry and you're still worrying," Al said as he ran his hands over Ed's suit to smooth out any wrinkles. Ed wouldn't be caught dead in a dress at Al's wedding and she sure as hell wouldn't wear one to hers.

"Were you this nervous on your wedding day?" Ed asked. If he was, Al sure as hell didn't show it. He appeared cool as a cucumber the entire time.

"Of course I was," Al answered. "I was terrified that Winry was going to run out on me at the last second or I would set something on fire."

"Pretty sure Mustang thought he was gonna set something on fire at his wedding," Ed said. Roy had married Riza the year before in a public ceremony in Central city. It was public so more people could attend and show support with Roy being the Furher. Of course, it had caused slight issues with fraternization, but Roy had straightened them out. Ed still wasn't sure how he had managed it, but she assumed anything was possible with being the Furher.

"I'm sure," Al agreed. "Now, let's get this party started." Ed stood at the end of the aisle with Christopher - Winry and Al's youngest at two years old, and also the ring bearer - as Al disappeared into the back room to tell them it was time to come out. Before they began, Al ran back to Ed's side and waited for the music to start.

The first person to appear was the flower girl. Little three-year old Maddie was leading the show as she spread the flower petals from her basket onto the ground. She walked with confidence at her ability to do a task that Winry had stressed was so important.

Following Maddie was Cori. She was fifteen now, two months away from being sixteen. She followed behind with a glimmer of excitement in her eyes. Ed couldn't help but think how beautiful their daughter was. She was growing up so fast even though they had only had her for three years now.

Maddie reached the end of the aisle and quickly took her seat near Winry. Cori stood in the spot she had been told to stand in, near where Julia would stand. And Julia was still walking. And Ed couldn't help but think of how beautiful she was.

Julia had worked on her wedding dress with a few tailors she knew from when she was a little girl. It meant the long white wedding dress she wore had seen quite a few weddings. Julia didn't mind; she loved the history it had. Ed just wanted her future wife to be happy.

Her wife...Ed had nearly gone numb when Julia was speaking her vows. They were actually getting married, and it was the scariest and greatest thing ever. It wasn't like they were just girlfriends anymore. They couldn't leave at any time they fought anymore - not that they did. They were in it together from now on. Through thick and thin.

Even though it had seemed like they were married for the past few years now.

"Edward," the priest began, because it was still Ed's legal name and she wasn't planning on changing it back. "Do you take Julia Crichton, during sickness and health, thick and thin, to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do."

"And Julia; do you take Edward Elric, during sickness and health, thick and thin, to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do."

"I now pronounce you wife and wife."

* * *

 **I don't know how real vows go and this chapter was short, but whatever. This fic is officially finished!**

 **If you must know, Ed and Julia live happily ever after where they adopted more babies and stuff. Also, I know I described Maddie's looks in the previous chapter with golden hair and golden eyes, but I never said Christopher. He has golden hair and blue eyes.**

 **Lily (Guest): "EVERYTHING IS EVEN MORE ADORABLE NOW! YES!"**

 **I'm glad you like it! :)**

 **Thanks to everyone who stuck through this story 'till the end! Thanks even to those who didn't. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, even if I never had the chance to respond.**

 **And to those special few who read the original and decided to give this one a shot in hopes of finding something better, I am so sorry you had to read that piece of shit. Thanks for coming over here in hopes of finding something better. I hope you found it.**

 **Thank you all so much! This fic in total had ninety-seven pages. That's a lot of pages. Anyway, if you'd like, you can check out my other fics! I've been thinking about doing a rewrite on one called "Too Fast", so maybe you guys can go over there and see if you'd be interested in that (it's another fem!Ed one).**

 **Also, I know a lot of people really liked my fics "Rebellion" and "Cut", so you can go check those out if you want.**

 **Thanks, guys!**

 _I always do super long things at the very end of every fic I do._


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